iiiiiiiiitiiiii 



riiiiu;"::;;; ii 



mmim 



-^^ v"" 



•^or^^ 









•% .^ 



c^' 



'^.J^ * ■■> N ■ 






0-' ^" 



,-' ,0-' ^b. 



^.> ,^x 



-. ,-^^' 






.r<' 






S N ^ V*^' 










V <^ 









-v o^ 






^ « ^ " O/. 






.^^' 



1.V ^^ 



C«> . V ' « * "'' 



^\ 






,-0- .:' ". -^^ .-^'^ S ,.V, O, 

o 0^ 












<•. ^v 







O^ s^ " ^// '''^. 



o 0^ 









.0^ 



^^.,# 



.3^ -^ 



-^^' 



(, "^t:^^ 






^ .0-' 



V ^^^'»* '^b^ ,0"^ c°^ '•■-9, "-^^ 

N \V 






■x^' -^ .*^- 









""cf^. 



,0 






V 









-O'^^c"'^'' 



^/.-^ 






0^ V 






•>i. 

■=^0. 














'o 


0' 










H 


-f, 


^ "'!^'4 , 


"■■" ^.-""' 


^ \ 




"^ 


% 








(T- 




\ ■ 








■^ 














.•^'' 








* 


.^ 




,v 







w 



vO c 






"> 



'' I 






,0o 



r 






"^A v^^ 
x^^^. 



.-^^ ,v^ 






«.• 



N '.. ' A^^^ 



'if .<,^' 



.^ 






.V^' 



^0^ 









o 0^ 



,^' 
\ 



% ^ 



"^^ s'- 



". - A^^' '^- 









Oo. 









5!-' 






V ^ ^ '• o / '^ 






x\^- '^^^ 



s" .'N 






x^^^. 






, '^/^ * N ' \\ 



VV^' 



S^% 



sO 



.*^^ 



%^^;^^ 



■.^' 



,>^^ . . ^ ' » . 



-^^ v^ 






^"^A v^^^ 

\^^^. 






."^ "C' 



^■/ 






\' 0- 



'"■^- .<<t^ 






''■CV. oXN^ 



THE 



New Gloucester Centennial, 



SEPTEMBER 7, 1874, 



a/ /' 



T; h: HASKELL 



Rkuei. Small, Stenographer. 



PORTLAND : /,' 
HOYT, FOGG & DON HAM. 



1875. 



%- 



S 






Kiitered accorilinfjt to Act of Congress in the year 1875, by 

T. JI. HASKELL, 
in. the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Stephen Bkrrt, Printer, Portland. 



TO THE SONS OF NEW GLOUCESTER 



THIS BOOK 



IS, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



The publication of this volume has been undertaken 
at the request of many citizens of New Gloucester and 
others, who are interested in the welfare of that beautiful 
town, where perhaps, like the writer, they were born, or their 
kindred used to dwell, and a lingering tie still draws their 
affections thither. 

Doubtless errors and omissions may be found by the 
reader, but the writer asks that no offense be taken, as 
he has carefully endeavored to record truly, from all the 
information within his reach. 

T. H, ir. 

Portland, January 1, 1875. 



CONTENTS 



Preliminary Arrangemexts, .... 9 

Centennial Day, • . . . . .12 

The Welcome, by Joseph Cross, Esq., . . 14 

The Invocation, by Rev. W. R. Cross, . . .15 

Centennial Hymn, " Ode on Science," • • 17 

Historical Address, BY T.H. Haskell, Esq., . . 18 

" America," sung by the assemblage, ... 52 

The Blessing, by Rev. H. M. Perkins, . . .53 

Dinner, ....... 54 

Letter from Hon. Nelson Dingley, Jr., . . 54 

Response, by Hon. W. W. Thomas, Jr., . . 55 

« *' Hon. J. J. Babson, .... 58 

" « Mr. C. p. Haskell, ... 63 

Letter from Hon. P. W. Chandler, . . . 65 

Response by Hon. W. W. Thomas, ... 78 

Letter from Hon. S. C. Fessenden, . . .82 

Response by Hon. Geo. W. Woodman,. . . 83 

Letter from Hon. T. P. Chandler, . . .88 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Response by Osgood Bradbury, Esq., . . 89 

" « Rev. John F. Morgan, . . .93 

" " Jabez H. Woodman, A. M., . . 96 

Letter from Benj. H. Corliss, Esq., . . .99 

Response by Elder Otis Sawyer, . . • 100 

" " Mr. Augustus P. Martin, . • • 109 

Remarks BY Alfred Haskell, Esq., . . • 112 

DOXOLOGY, . . . . . . .116 

APPENDIX. 

Record of Falmouth Convention, 1774, . . 117 

Votes of the town during the Revolution, . . 123 

Schedule of prices fixed by General Court, . 124 

Roll of Capt. Parsons' Company, . . . 126 

Votes of the town during war of 1812, . . 127 

Petition to the General Court, 1809, . . 127 

Representatives to the General Court, . . 129. 

" AND Senators in the Legislature, 130 

Polls and Estates, ..... 130 

Population, Surplus Revenue and Taxes, . . 131 

John Megquier, ..... 131 

John L. Megquier, . . . . . 132 

Benjamin Hammond, . . . . . 132 

Aged People, ...... 133 



PEELIMINARY ARRANGEMEl^TS. 



The town of New Gloucester was organized Septem- 
ber 7, 1774, by choice of the necessary town officers, 
under an act of the General Court of Massachusetts 
passed that year. 

At the annual March meeting, 1874, the town voted 
to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of that 
event, and appointed a committee for the purpose, viz : 

Joseph Cross, Esq., 

Amos H. Nevins, Esq., and 

Dea. Andrew C. Chandler. 

The site of the old block house on the south side of 
the Gray road, a short distance south-west from the 
center of the town, was selected as the place for the 
celebration. The present owners of the spot, S. H.. 
and A. C. Chandler, tendered the use of the same for 
the purpose, and Dea. A. C. Chandler, at his own- 
expense, removed all fences and obstructions from the 
vicinity, thus providing a large smooth common of 
several acres, with its surface slightly sloping to the 
south, covered with green sward smooth as a carpet. 
Here a mammoth canvas tent of an oval shape, 

2 



10 INSIDE THE TENT. 

one hundred and fifty feet long by sixty broad, was 
pitched. At the entrance swung the ancient sign 
of New Gloucester's hospitable inn, once kept by 
that public spirited citizen, Peleg Chandler, inscribed 
" Bell Tavern, 1776, P. C." Within, a large platform 
was raised upon the north-east side, a long table ex- 
tended through the center lengthwise for the refresh- 
ments, and all the remaining space was filled with seats 
conveniently arranged. The inside was tastily decor- 
ated with flags, bunting, evergreens and flowers, giving 
an appearance of beauty and comfort seldom equaled. 
The stars and stripes floated from a staff above the 
center of the tent, and streamers from the top of the 
tent poles at each end. 

Joseph Cross, Esq., was selected for President, Amos 
H. Nevins, Esq., for Toastmaster, and Capt. Wil- 
liam P. Eveleth for Marshal of the day. 

The Mechanic Falls Brass Band was engaged for the 
occasion, and a choir was selected from the singers of 
the town to furnish vocal music. 

Invitations to be present were extended to all former 
citizens of the town, and their descendants. 

The financial success of the celebration is due to the 
following public spirited citizens : 

Andrew C. Cliaiitller, Nathaniel Eveleth, 

Solomon M. Chandler, Sewal N. Martin, 

Nicholas Kideout, A. D. Harris, 

Otis C. Nelson, J- E- Cliurchili, 

Oilman Martin, A. G. Merrill, 

-B. N. Merrill, Elbridge Fosa, 



SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CELEBRATION FUND. 



11 



George Blake, 
F. A. Spring, 
II. N. Sprinfj, 
Natlianiel Kitleout, 
Thomas Clark, 
T. W. Brewer, 
Chas. P. Haskell, 
Walter Berry, 
Lemuel K. Fogg, 
Chas. H. Wharflf, 
Charles Sampson, 
Charles Schillinger, 
Sewall Gross, 
Feter Haskell, 
Josepli Cross, 
Amos II. Kevins, 
Isaac H. Keith, 
Henry Fogg, 
Knocli Fogg, 
Jos. E. Bailey, 
Simon Wells, 
Ammi Wells, 
Ivory Jordan, 

D. W. Merrill, 

N. S. & N. L. Shurtleff, 
Clark Curtis, 
David A. Bennett, 
Moses True, 
A. D. Nevins, 
Jabez True, 
Wm. Evelcth, 

E. H. Morgan, 
S. F. Record, 
George Pendexter, 
A. F. Cole, 

John Whitman, 
S. H. Ilurlbut, 
Hewett Chandler, 
Jacob Rowe, 
Moses Wharff, 



C. II. N. Rowe, 
W. II. True, 

G. W. Ricker, 
Stephen Rowe, 
Theophilus Rowe, 
J. L. Davis, 
P. A. Downing, 
J. T. McCann, 
M. J. Rogers, 
Chas. S. Estes, 
Amory Leach, 
Jos. Tarbox, 
T. J. Dawes, 
Ozias M. Lunt, 
Z. A. Rowe, 
Wm P. Taylor, 
Chas. Small, 

D. J. Prescott, 
Wm. Greely, 

A. C. Underbill, 

John M. Haskell, 

James Jordan, 

Thos. M. Haskell, 

Samuel F. Hilton, 

William Taylor, 

George Washington Chandler, 

James Webster, 

Benj. F. Woodbury, 

A. W. Gooding, 

William Haskell, 

J. G. Bennett, 

L. C. Berry, 

Jonah Jordan, 

Wesley S trout, 

Silas Bickford, 

James Morrill, 

Leroy Fanar, 

Ira C. Chandler, 

Edward Small, 

J. P. Stinchfield, 



12 



CENTENNIAL DAT. 



John Preble, 
J. C. Lane, 
Tlios. G. Haskell, 
Augustus J. Haskell, 
Wm. L. Morgan, 
Amos H. Eveleth, 
V Ciias. Megquier, 
John Jordan, 
Seth P. Snow, 
S. D. Watts, 
T. J. Stevens, 
Mark T. Clark & Son, 
Fred. Larrabee, 
Peter Stevens, 
Benj. Webber, 
Seth F. Sweetser, 
John B. Wells, 
Alfred Larrabee, 
Herman Webber, 
Jabez H. Woodman, 
Monroe Pollster, 
Emery J. Mitchell, 
S. H. Hackett, 
J. W. Woodman, 
H. S. Bennett, 
Elias Lane, 



Charles Merrill, 
G. W. Keirstead, 
David Weymouth, 
B. A. Merrill, 
Ephrnim Hilton, 
Alfred Nevins, 
James Hewlett, 
Geo. Eveleth, 
Hanson Bailey, 
Geo. H. Bailey, 
Isaac Blake, 
John B. Bennett, 
Wm. E. Blake, 
Simeon Wells, 
S. A. Plummer, 
B. Wells, 

Ephraim Stinchfield, 
Benj. Morse, 
David Jordan, 
Nathaniel Tufts, 
Philip Blake, 
Hiram White, 
Geo. W. Haskell, 
Seth L. Haskell, 
John H. Ward. 



CENTENNIAL DAY. 

A still, clear, warm, lovely day in early Autumn 
blessed the occasion. At morning, noon and night, the 
village bells spoke loudly of this joyous anniversary. 

The former sons and daughters of the tov/n came in 
goodly numbers. Early, carriages filled with people 
arrived from all directions. The ladies of the town 
loaded the spacious tables within the tent with all kinds 
of food, the Shaker sisters liberally providing a share. 



INVITED GUESTS AND FORMER CITIZENS. 13 

At a quarter before ten o'clock in the morning the 
seats within the tent were filled, when the band, escort- 
ing the President, Committee, Orator of the Day, in- 
vited guests and Reporters, arrived at the tent, and 
these, with many prominent citizens of the town, took 
seats upon the platform. The Choir occupied the right 
and the band the left of the stage. Immediately in 
front a square of seats was filled by aged people, 
and upon the platform was seated Miss Judith Rowe, 
aged ninety-two years, the oldest person in town. All 
the standing room in the tent was filled, and it is esti- 
mated that from twenty-five hundred to three thousand 
persons were present. 

Among the invited guests and former citizens of the 
town present, beside those who took an active part in the 
celebration, were noticed the Hons. William Wirt Virsi-in, 
Thomas B. Reed and Charles H. Haskell, Rev. B. 
P. Snow, and Alfred Woodman, Samuel Fogg, Isaac P. 
Whitman, Daniel W. True, John True, Samuel D. 
Bearce, John C. Proctor, Chas. M. Harris, Albion Keith, 
Samuel Rolfe, Thomas Nichols, E. N. Perry, and Merrill 
E. Haskell; Esqrs., and Dr. Charles S. D. Fessenden, of 
Portland ; John S. Webber, Esq., of Gloucester, Mass. ; 
Messrs. Allen Preble, William P. Haskell and J. W. 
Haskell, of Boston ; Prof. Carmichael, of Bowdoin Col- 
lege, Dr. Sturgis, Seth P. Miller, Daniel Field, D. S. 
Tobey and B. A. Rideout, Esqs., and Hon. Robert Martin, 
of Auburn ; David N. True, Esq., of South Paris; Haller 



U THE WELCOME. 

Little, of Chelsea, Mass., and John L. Little, of Boston, 
eons of Dr. Timothy Little, a former prominent citizen 
of the town ; Charles J. Rice, of Winchendon, Mass., 
son of the Rev. Benj. Rice, a former pastor in the town ; 
George W. Merrill, Esq., of Bangor, Hon. Henry Pennell 
and John D. Anderson, Esq., of Gray. 

At precisely ten o'clock the President called the 
assembly to order, and after lively music from the 
Band, gave the following 

WELCOME. 

Fellow Citizens : — The pleasant duty has been assigned 
me of bidding the strangers present to-day a hearty Avelcome. 
We welcome those who have once more returned to their 
native town to join in the festivities of the day. We welcome 
the descendants of those men and women who once made 
this their home. 

We welcome all to this festive board, and to the hallowed 
associations of this, the one hundredth anniversary of the 
organization of this town. 

It is a joj'ous day which brings so many of us together on 
the spot where our forefathers first made a permanent home. 
A common bond unites us ; we all cherish a grateful re- 
membrance of our ancestors, and especially of those whose 
hardships hallowed this spot more than a hundred years 
ago. 

Ladies, we hail your presence with joy. The grand- 
mothers and great grandmothers of many of you endured 
great privations with their husbands and fathers here in an 
unbroken forest. They were nature's noblemen and women, 
possessed of courage, integrity and perseverance. Their 



THE INVOCATION. ^^ 

deeds bring no blush to our cheeks, but rather pride and 
satisfaction. They were the architects of all that is truly- 
valuable to their descendants, and we have reason to thank 
God for such a blessing. 

I say to all. Welcome ! thrice welcome to this anniver- 
sary ! 

The Rev. Wellington R. Cross, of Orono, formerly 
Pastor' of the Congregational Church and Society at 
New Gloucester, offered the following 

PRAYER. 

O Lord ! Thou hast been our dwelling place in all genera- 
tions, Thou art great and good. Thy throne is in the heavens 
and Thy tender mercies are over all Thy works. Grant us 
Thy presence and Thy blessing this morning, we pray Thee, 
as we are assembled here for the memorial services that are 
now to engage our hearts and our thoughts. 

We rejoice that so many of the citizens and former resi- 
dents of this venerable town, from all parts of the State and 
our land, have been permitted in Thy good providence to 
assemble here to-day, to honor the memory of its early 
settlers, to look again upon their childhood scenes, and to 
renew the friendships of former years. The heavens are 
briglit and beautiful over our heads ; the hills and these 
fertile valleys around us are luminous with Thy presence 
and Thy love ; and our hearts are glad and grateful within 
us because of these. Thy special mercies, unto us as individ- 
uals and as a people, on this most auspicious day. 

O Lord! Thou art our God and our father's God. Our 
hearts trust in Thee and our lips praise Thee for the nation 
that is ours, for the glory of our New England history and 



16 THE INVOCATION. 

our New England inheritance, — for the fair fame of our 
own beloved Pine Tree State ; but more than all do we 
thank Thee at this time, for the sacred memories and the 
hallowed associations that cluster around this historic and 
consecrated spot. We thank Thee that here our fathers 
worshijjped Thee and found a refuge from their foes and 
inspiration for their toils. We bless Thy Name for all Thy 
care over them while they cleared for us these fertile fields 
and built for us these pleasant homes, securing to 'us the 
institutions that are still our blessing and our pride. We 
thank Thee for all their deeds of heroism and of self-denial, 
for all the principles of truth and virtue and religion which 
they manifested in their lives, and have Jianded down to us, 
their children. And now, as we commemorate their deeds 
and rehearse their fame, may we drink still more deeply into 
their spirit and their faith. 

Bless him who is to speak to us to-day of these things ; 
and may his words be eloquent, truthful and wise, and so, 
eminently worthy the occasion and the themes which it 
suggests. Let all who shall address us be guided and helped 
by Thy Spirit and Thy grace. 

O Lord ! Thou art the God of nations and of men. Our 
hope is in Thee and our strength is in Thy Word. Sanctify 
unto us, we entreat Thee, the lessons of this hour. INIake 
us loyal to Thee in all our rulers, our institutions, our hopes 
and our lives, that Thy beauty may be enkindled upon us 
as a nation, as a town, — and we be forever established in 
the work of our hands. Before another hundred years shall 
have come and goi:e, these places that now know us shall 
know us no more. Then we, too, shall have gone to our 
fathers and the everlasting awards for which we have lived. 
Help us to remember this tender and solemn reminder of 



CENTENNIAL HYMN. 17 

our immortality and its great responsibility ; and when we 
go hence may it be with a new and fixed determination to 
live lienceforth under the power of the endless life, and not 
so much under the power of this present temporal life. 

Hear us, O Lord, in this our prayer. Forgive us all our 
sins, and be Thou with this people in all the future as Thou 
hast been with them in all the past, and finally receive us 
and them to reign with Thee in Thy kingdom above, to go 
no more out forever. 

And Thy Name, Father, Son and Spirit, shall have all 
the praise, now and evermore. Amen. 

The Choir, led by Nicholas Rideout, Esq., with 
voice and violin, sung the 

"ode ON" SCIENCE." 

"The morning sun shines from the East, 
And spreads his glories to the West, 
All nations witli his beams are blest, 
Whei'e'er his radiant light appears. 
So Science s{)reads her lucid ray, 
O'er lands that long in darkness lay, 
She visits fair Columbia, 
And sets lior sons among the stars." 

"Fair Freedom, her attendant, waits 
To bless the portals of her gates, 
To crown the young and rising States, 
With laurels of immortal day. 



"18 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 

The British yoke, the Gallic chain, 
Was urged upon our sons in vain ; 
All haughty tyrants we disdain, 
And shout, long live America." 

The President then announced the orator of the day, 
Thomas Hawes Haskell, Esq., of Portland, a native 

of New Gloucester. 

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 

My Friends and Fellow Citizens : 

One hundred years ago, when the voters of this township 
assembled in the old meeting house to organize this town 
agreeable to a warrant in the the name of His Majesty, 
George the Third, little did they suppose that their descend- 
ants would celebrate the event, at the end of a full century, 
in the manner of to-day. 

Those men are gone. Their final resting place is in 
yonder churchyard ; and a simple headstone marks the spot, 
but their characters still remain, bright as the fixed stars in 
the dome of heaven, unobscured by the lapse of time, a 
guide to virtue. Their memories have kept pace with the 
roll of the century, and to-day call to us as we return to 
visit the old homestead, changed, perhaps, and vacant, but 
still the place of our childhood and their toil. Oh ! the 
memories that crowd through the mind and stir the soul ; 
memories of the dear ones that are gone, memories not re- 
called for years. With Longfellow can we say : 

"This is the place, stand still my steed, 
Let me review the scene, 
And summon from the shadowy past, 
The forms that once have been." 



ORIGINAL GRANT, 1736. 19/ 



Turn back with me a century and a half. Then these 
hills were covered with the giant oak, maple, beech and 
birch. The stately pine flourished on yonder plains, and 
the noble hemlock in the valleys. The meadow, skirted by 
the majestic elm, and covered by a yearly growth of verdure, 
was watered by the noiseless current of the winding stream, 
waiting to bear upon its bosom to the sea the growth of 
centuries ripe for the woodman's axe, and hurrying on yet 
unvexed by the wheels of industry. Here the lordly moose, 
the surly bear, the ravenous wolf and timid deer, roamed 
unmolested, and here, too, the sleek beaver found a secure 
retreat, and the eagle reared her young secure from harm. 

Then no pioneer had gone further north-west. All here 
and beyond was a wilderness. A few settlers at Gorham 
and Windham had just begun their clearings ; while at North 
Yarmouth a " provincial garrison was kept," and the only 
considerable settlement was at Falmouth, now Portland. This 
whole country was infested with Indians, whose favorite 
hunting and fishing grounds were in this town. 

Then it was that the General Court of His Majesty's 
Province of INIassachusetts Bay, in New England, on the 
27th of March, 1736, granted to sixt}-- inhabitants of Glou- 
cester in that Province, a township six miles square, exclusive 
of water, in the eastern part, where it could best be spared, 
reserving one right, or sixty-third part, for the first settled, 
learned, Orthodox minister, one for the ministry and one 
for the support of schools. 

These grantees first located the township where Gorham 
and Gray now are, but finding that locality claimed under 
jrior grants, the}'- located the township above North Yar- 
mouth, and tiie General Court confirmed the same to them 
the 5th of July, 1737. That year a road was bushed out 



20 NAMED NEW GLOUCESTER. 

from Cousin's river in North Yarmouth, on the east side of 
Royal's river, to the township, and one division of lots was 
laid out, extending north-east and south-west from the 
center of the town. These were drawn by the proprietors, on 
the 17th of February, 1738. Lot number forty-four was set 
apart for the first settled minister, and one was drawn for 
the ministry and one for schools. The persons who drew 
lots number one, two, twenty-one and twenty-two, near 
" Stevens' Brook," were required to give bonds to build a 
saw mill within two j^'ears, and saw lumber at the halves for 
seven years. 

The proprietors, doubtless calling to mind the cheerful 
associations of their homes, on the 27th of February, 1738, 
called the township New Gloucester, as an earnest that it 
should prove what old Gloucester had been to them and 
their ancestors before them. The township now having 
taken a name, and the lots being ready for settlers, the Pro^ 
prietary sent JoHN Millet to make a good way from 
Cousin's river in North Yarmouth, to the meeting house lot 
in New Gloucester (where we now are), twelve feet wide, 
and fit for a cart and horse, and to build a bridge over the 
river (now Woodman's bridge), and paid him 170X old 
tenor. This road and bridge were completed in 1739, and 
the next move was to induce the hardy yeomanry of the 
province, to leave their comfortable homes to carve out new 
ones in a wilderness, then farther distant in time and con- 
venience, than tlie extreme west now is. To accomplish 
this end the Proprietary offered SOX to each proprietor, who 
in the Spring of 1739, " would go forward with a settlement 
for three years, and 20X to those who would go the next year, 
and 10£ to those who would go the third year." A few of the 
proprietors came and put up frames of houses, began clear- 



FIRST CLEARING, 1739. 21 

ings, and then for the first time civilization made its mark 
in this wilderness. 

The first clearing was begun on lot number ten, upon the 
easterly slope of " Harris Hill," at the spot now known as 
the " Washburn place," by Jonas Mason, who afterwards 
settled at North Yarmouth. During the years 1789 and 
1740, the settlers were furnished with provisions and stores 
from the old home in Gloucester, although the meat of 
the moose, then plenty here, was a constant diet upon their 
tables. Its hides made excellent clothing and shoes, and 
its tallow bountifully supplied their larder. 

The families of the settlers, with their goods, were brought 
down to North Yarmouth by a vessel, in the fall of 1742, 
and from thence poled up Royal's River, on rafts, to the 
great bridge ; and the winter of 1742 and 1743 was the first, 
when upon the sunny slope of these hills, the smoke curled 
upward from the log cabin of each settler, nestling near the 
edge of its clearing in the forest, and beside the blazing 
fire upon the hearthstone within, sat the matron with children 
clinging to her knee, while the mastiff watched at the door, 
as the sturdy blows of his master's axe echoed in the wood, 
and told the mother that all was well. 

In the spring of 1743, the terms of the grant not having 
been complied with, the Proprietary offered 14 <£ to each 
proprietor who would within eight months build a log house, 
according to the terms of the grant, and the following 
August, 20X to each proprietor Avho would settle in the 
township during the next winter, and engaged Capt. Isaac 
EvELETH to build a way suitable for carting from the 
great bridge (that Millet made) to the center of the town- 
ship, and early the next Spring, 1744, offered 12o£ to each 
proprietor who would build a log house within ten months, 



22 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAK. 

as provided by the grant, and determined to build a meet- 
ing-house. 

Ah-eady the tocsin of war rang out its alarm ; the whoop 
of the savage echoed in the clearings, and his dusky form, 
darting from thicket to thicket, sent terror through the 
settlement that had struggled for five years to subdue the 
obstacles of nature and to turn the forest into a garden ; 
twelve miles of road had been built, with nineteen bridges, 
two of which were over Royal's river, and cost X400 ; a 
saw-mill had been built on Stevens' brook, below the road, 
where its remains may now be seen ; when, the Governor of 
the Province, through the commanding officer of the fort at 
North Yarmouth, ordered the settlers off, who either scat- 
tered among the coast settlements, or returned to their old 
homes, leaving the product of their toil, and the result of 
their privations to the savages that fell upon the eastern 
frontier, as the plague sets upon the land it is to desolate, 
stalking where it will. 

This French and Indian war entirely broke up the 
settlement. The dwellings and mill were burned. The 
bridges were carried away by a freshet. The roads 
again sprang up to bushes. For five years the axe of the 
pioneer was unheard. The smoke from his cabin ceased to 
curl upward. The family hearth stone was desolate. Here 
again the wild beast and Indian were unmolested as they 
roamed upon these hillsides and wandered in the meadow. 

In the Fall of 1749, the French and Indians having been 
driven from the frontier, the Proprietary sent John Roberts 
with four men to repair the way from North Yarmouth and 
rebuild the great bridge. He was prevented from doing this 
by the Indians, until the Fall of 1752, when he was joined in 
this laborious service by four others, and received orders 



OLD BLOCK HOUSE, 1754. 23 

from the Proprietary to also rebuild the saw mill and cut 
timber for a meeting house ; that is to say, a block house, 
which would afford a protection from the Indians, and serve 
the conditions of the grant in being used for a " meeting 
house in the public worship of God." 

The grant was renewed in the Spring of 1753 upon 
petition, and then the Proprietary offered <£26, 18s. 4d. to 
be divided among ten families that would settle and remain 
in the township two years, and the same sum to be 
divided among them in the Fall, and a like sum in a year 
after. 

During the Fall of 1753, and Spring of 1754, the " Old 
Block House" was erected on this spot by the Proprietary, 
and furnished with two swivel guns, twenty-five pounds of 
powder and seventy-five' pounds of lead. Here then, just 
one hundred and twenty years ago, was completed a secure 
home for the settlers. Its thick walls of hewn pine timber^ 
closely fitted together and dovetailed at the ends, were 
bullet proof. Its solid door from hewn oak, prevented 
ingress by the lurking foe. Long slots in the wall let in 
the light of day, and made port holes for the gunners within. 
A blazing fire upon the hearth cooked their food and lighted 
the apartment by night. Here for six long years the settlers 
lived, never leaving the place unguarded. Their rifles were 
their constant companions as they went forth to their daily 
toil. It was to them a home, a fort, a church. 

In July, 1754, the proprietary offered 20<£ to settlers, 20 ,£ 
the next January, and 20£ the January after ; and the next 
Spring, 1755, employed James Pkoctor, of Woburn, " as 
Captain of the block house, at the same wages the Captain of 
Saco Fort had," and sent with him six men at 40s. a month 
for a garrison. This year the Indians attacked the block 



1 



24 PEACE AND PEOSPERITY, 1760. 

house and attempted to surprise the garrison. They cap- 
tured two men wlio were without, and killed and scalped a 
third. The next year the garrison was taken into the 
Provincial service upon half pay and allowance. 

In the Spring of 1756 the Proprietary employed Jacob. 
Parsons to make a new road from North Yarmouth water- 
side, on the west side of the river, by way of Walnut Hill, 
and directed him to seek help from North Yarmouth and 
New Town (now Pownal), cut the meadow, rebuild the 
saw mill and take a plan of the town, and offered 60£ to 
settlers during this and the next year. 

In 1758, a grist mill was completed in connection with 
the saw mill on Stevens' Brook. Prior to this the settlers 
carried their corn to the mill in North Yarmouth, and fre- 
quently carried it thither, and brought the meal back again 
upon their shoulders in a day, a distance of twenty-four 
miles. 

The year 1760 brought peace to the settlement. Canada 
had been taken by the English. The war was substantially 
over. The settlers who had previously lived within the 
garrison now began to build log houses upon their clearings, 
and to occupy separate homes of their own. This year 
marks the time when the settlement began to increase. A 
road v*'as laid out to New Boston (now Gray). The mills 
were moved to the great falls on Ro3^ars river. The second 
division of lots was laid out and X4 bounty brought a 
goodly number of settlers. 

Col. Isaac Parsons, a native of Gloucester, Mass., came 
in June, 1761, located and lived until his death, the 0th of 
Oct. 1825, at the age of 85, on the farm where his grand- 
son, Peter Haskell, who succeeded him, now resides. 



FIRST PllOPRlETARY MEETING. 



25 



Mr. John Woodman moved to town from North Yar- 
mouth with his wife and one child the same year (1761), 
and settled a little south of " Woodman's Bridge," on the 
westerly side of the Yarmouth road ; his goods came on 
a raft up Royal's river. 

In 1763 the road Avas laid out to the mills. New Boston 
line, which formerly ran near the block house, was moved 
south-west about two miles, and twenty-five new lots were 
laid out for settlers in the newly acquired territory. 

The first meeting of the Proprietary at the block house,, 
was held on the 22d of Nov. 1763. All prior meetings had 
been held in Old Gloucester, with which place, up to this 
time, both intimate business and social relations were main- 
tained. At this meeting Samuel Merrill was chosen Mod- 
erator and Treasurer ; Isaac Parsons, Clerk ; Jonathan 
Tyler, Daniel Merrill and William Harris, Commit- 
tee to manage the prudential affairs of the township, and 
Assessors ; Nathaniel Eveleth, Collector, and William 
Harris, Surveyor of Roads. 

The next year, 1764, the proprietors, actuated by a de- 
sire to provide suitable instruction " to the youth," built a 
school house at the center of the town, hired a school- 
master ; and eager to comply with the laws of the Prov- 
ince, as well as mindful of their religious duty, gave a call to 
the Rev. Samuel Foxcroft, a graduate of Harvard 
College, and son of the Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, pastor of 
the Chauncey St. Church, Boston, to settle in the ministry,, 
upon a salary of X80, and a settlement of XI 00 to be paid in 
boards, clapboards, shingles and other things suitable for 
his buildings, and in labor, with which, and his own resources, 
he erected, in the year 1765, the commodious mansion that 
his grandson, Samuel Foxcroft, Esq., now occupies. 

3 



26 . CHURCH GATHERED PASTOR ORDAINED. 

This call was accepted, and John Sawyer, Jonathan 
Tyler and William Harris, were appointed a committee 
by the Proprietary to provide all things suitable for the 
ordination, which occurred on the 16th of January, 1765, 
and was largely attended from all the surrounding country. 
Parson Smith says, " It was a jolly ordination, and they 
lost sight of decorum." 

At this time a church was gathered, consisting of The 
Pastor, John Tufts, Jabez True, Daniel Merrill, 
Moses Woodbury, Wm. Stevens, Eben'r Mason and 
Peleo Chandler, which soon largely increased by the re- 
ception of new members. 

In 1766 the third and fourth divisions of lots were drawn. 
The latter was called the pine timber division. In 1767 the 
fifth or intervale division, in 1773 the sixth division, and 
in 1790 the seventh, or last division, was drawn. 

The meadows were " common lands," owned by the Pro- 
prietary, and when the time came for cutting the grass, a 
meeting of the proprietors was usually held to determine 
the method. In the year 1766 they voted "that sixteen 
cocks of hay be cut to a share in the great meadow, and 
seventeen cocks in all other meadows ; and to begin to cut 
August 11th, at seven o'clock in the morning, and that no 
man should begin before that time." 

In 1770 sixty-one persons subscribed to build a meeting 
house. The lot where the Congregationalist Church now 
stands was purchased of Col. Wm. Allen for this purpose. 
The pew ground in the church was sold at auction. Each 
purchaser built his own pew, which was required to be 
surrounded with a " rail and banisters." 

The Proprietary, on the 8th of February, 1774, elected 



NEW GLOUCESTER INCORPORATED. 27 

Simon Noyes, Ebenezer Mason and Isaac Parsons, a- 
committee to petition the General Court for an act of in- 
corporation into a town. 

For thirty-five years the proprietors and settlers of this 
township had been striving to carve out new homes from 
the midst of a forest, twelve miles from the sea, and one 
hundred miles distant from their old homes, where regular 
communication could not reach them. Once they were 
driven away by the Indians. The product of five years' toil 
was lost. For six years more they were confined to the 
close limits of a garrison. Yet these men, by their determ- 
ination, enduring energy and unyielding perseverance, 
brought up the settlement to above sixty families, built more 
than twenty miles of road, a saw-mill and grist-mill, built 
and maintained a block house suited for a garrison in time 
of war, built a school house and meeting house, maintained 
a public' school, and supported a public religious teacher 
for more than ten years, in addition to making their clear- 
ings, and erecting their own houses and barns. 

Surely, when we look upon these fair fields to-day, we 
must feel grateful for the labors of these pioneers, as we 
enjoy the fruits thereof! The troubles and hardships they 
endured, we cannot imagine, for this generation was reared 
in the lap of luxury, in striking contrast with the privations 
of these men, which no tongue can now picture, no pen 
describe, and which the enervated imagination of to-day 
fails to conceive. This toil and sorrow was not in vain, and 
these happy faces about me bear witness to the fact. 

The General Court of the Province lent a willing ear to 
the petition of the Proprietary, and early in the year 1774 
incorporated the town of New Gloucester. A warrant 
issued to Peleg Chandler, from Col. William All?:n, 



28 FIRST TOWN MEETING. 

bidding him, in His Majesty's Name, warn the free- 
holders and other inhabitants qualified to vote, to as- 
semble at the " Old meeting house" on the 7th of September, 
at ten o'clock in the forenoon, one hundred years ago, to 
choose the necessary town officers. 

This first town meeting is the event we celebrate. Insig- 
nificant in itself, it was the birth day of this town's cor- 
porate existence. Then w^as laid the corner stone for an 
edifice already one hundred years old, and good for centuries 
to come. At that meeting, every male inhabitant of the 
town who had reached his majority was allowed to vote, 
regardles of race, creed, color, and any property qualification. 
A right which the century has hardly ordained throughout 
this broad land — a free ballot, — the safeguard of our 
liberties. 

Twenty days afterward the Selectmen were instructed by 
the town to hire Mr. Sampson Coalbee, a schoolmaster, 
and " to place the school in that part of the town where it 
would do the most good." At the same meeting the town 
voted to build a Pound in the westerly corner of the Com- 
mon about the meeting house. The construction thereof 
was put up at auction. Isaac Parsons stepped forth as 
vendue master, and it was bid off by Peter Graffam, for 
ax, 14s, 8d. 

Scarcely had the town organized when the horizon of our 
country blackened, ominous clouds, threatening war, rolled 
upward, as each new budget of news came from Great 
Britain. The Sugar, the Stamp and the Tea Acts had been 
passed ; British troops were quartered in private houses ; 
trial by jury in the Colonies was denied ; all principal 
. colonial officers were to be appointed by the Crown ; taxes 
were imposed without the consent of the Colonies ; those 



THE REVOLUTION. 29 

accused of treason were to be transported to England for 
trial ; the port of Boston had been closed to commerce ; 
citizens of Boston had been shot by British soldiers ; non- 
importation and non-consumption of British goods had 
become the watchword of the Colonies; the appeal of that 
Boston Patriot, JosiAH Quincy, Jr., had fired the colonial 
heart; the Concord Convention had resolved "that to obey 
these acts of Parliament would be to annihilate the last 
vestiges of liberty in the Province." 

On the 27th of September, 1774, in compliance with a 
request from the Hon. Jedediah Preble, of Falmouth, 
this town appointed Col. Wm. Allen, Capt. Wm. Harris 
and Capt. Isaac Parsoxs, delegates to a County Conven- 
tion to be held at Falmouth, to take into consideration the 
alarming situation of public affairs ; and elected JNIiCAH 
Walker, Josiah Smith, Isaac Parsons, John Wood- 
man, Enoch Fogg and Nathaniel Bennett, a committee 
to inspect the inhabitants of the town, " to see whether they 
do submit themselves to the resolves of Congress, not to use 
any British goods, and expose them that do not." 

This Committee faithfully searched every house in town, 
but such was the patriotism of the inhabitants, that they 
found no contraband articles, although one crafty dame 
succeeded in secreting in an oven her store of tea, obtained 
unbeknown to her husband for her own private use, from a 
Falmouth Tory. 

In October, 1774, the Provincial Congress organized the 
Militia of the Province. This town was divided by a line 
running nearly east and west through the center of the 
town, into two companies of infantry. The North Company 
was commanded by Capt. Isaac Parsons, and the South 
Company by Capt. Wm. IIahuis, comprising all the able 



30 LAST TOWN MEETING IN IIIS MAJESTY's NAME. 

bodied men iu the town. One-quavter of these were de- 
tached as mhiute men, to take up arms at a moment's 
warnhig. The town purchased two casks of powder, two 
hundred pounds of lead, three hundred flnits, and offered 
one doUar apiece for thirty men who would enlist and be 
ready for an encampment. 

Eai'ly in tlie morning of April 2 ), 1775, news was received 
of the battle of Lexington, fought six days l)efore. That 
afternoon a town meeting was held, which had been called 
on personal notice to all the inhabitants, by the Selectmen ; 
and it was determined to have twenty men in readiness for 
service, upon the shortest notice, and that " those who go 
shall have their labor done every week faithfully, while they 
were gone, and their wages ; and be furnished with as much 
provision as they could carry, and be billeted on the roads 
free." 

On the 30th of October, 1775, Capt. Wm. Hauris, Capt. 
Isaac Parsons and Mr. David Millet, were chosen a 
Committee of Safety. 'Jliis committee, and the Committee 
of Inspection, with a change of some members upon each, 
were continued until the close of the war in 1784. At this 
time the tow.n voted to join in fortifying on Falmouth j\eck. 

This was the last town meeting warned in His Majesty's 
name, and tlie page of its record is the last evidence of alle- 
giance to the British Crown. Then Royal authority was 
formally consigned to the tomb, although it died long before 
in the hearts of this people. Thereafter, openly these ances- 
tors of ours asserted the eternal ritjht to be free, and on the 
21st of May, 177G, voted : 

"Th;it if the Honorable Congress should, for the safety of the 
Colonies, declare them independent of Great Britain, they will 



A TIME OF GREAT DISTRESS. 31 

solemnly engage, with their lives and their fortunes, to support 
the Congress in the measure." 

On the 4th day of July, 1776, a day that will live so long 
as centuries to come shall complete their circuit, this was 
done ; and through the next six years of blood the inhab- 
itants of this town kept that engagement sacred, freely 
giving their lives and their treasure a willing sacrifice to 
freedom. 

The entire soldiery of the town above the age of sixteen 
years, numbered about one hundred and fifty. From this 
number, prior to the year 1780, the town had furnished 
more than thirty-eight men for the army, and forty-eight 
pairs of boots and shoes, forty-eight shirts and sixteen 
blankets, besides continuous and burdensome taxes. In 
May, that year, Capt. Isaac Parsons, with a company of 
fifty-five men and officers was mustered into the service for 
eight months, and ordered to the command of Brig. Gen'l 
Wadsworth, at Thomaston, in Col. Prime's regiment, to 
operate against Bagaduce. 

At this time the people of the town were reduced to great 
distress. In the spring of this year, 1780, the town was 
called upon to furnish seventeen pairs of shoes and stockings, 
and eight blankets, and in the fall, seven men for the 
Continental Army for three years, and ten thousand, eight 
hundred and sixty-five pounds of beef. The town had paid 
large bounties to soldiers (its quota had usually been filled 
by volunteers) ; had furnished the soldiers with clothing, 
and their families with the necessaries of life. The currency 
was depreciated. Coin was at four thousand (forty to one), 
taxes could not be collected in current money. Already, 
the Collector had on hand ninety bushels of corn, gathered 
for taxes, which the General Court voted to take in lieu of 



32 FIRST TOWN MEETING UNDER COMMONWEA.LTH. 

coin. The General Court had in vain fixed the prices of 
labor and merchandise. In vain had this town elected 
committees to regulate the prices of innholders, teamsters, 
laborers and merchandise, and to see that the people con- 
formed thereto. Eighteen dollars a day was paid the 
Selectmen, taxes had to be collected in produce, and all 
trade became barter. 

Not discouraged by this deplorable state of affairs, these 
people still struggled to sustain the cause they so dearly 
loved. On the first of November, 1780, the town voted to 
raise 4,800<£ to procure the beef required, and appointed a 
committee for the purpose, who canvassed the town, and 
reported that the beef could not be had. 

On the 12th of January, 1781, the first town meeting was 
held in the name of the Commonwealth, under the new 
constitution, to procure the seven men called for, and the 
town voted to raise 202<£ hard money for the purpose. So 
determined were the people to succeed, that this meeting 
met by adjournment fourteen times to accomplish the object. 

On the 22d of June, 1781, two thousand nine hundred and 
nine pounds of beef, twelve shirts, twelve pairs of shoes and 
stockings and six blankets were required of the town for 
the army. This was the last levy furnished, as Cornwallis 
surrendered at Yorktown the following October, and then 
for the first time during seven years of war, did the Patriots 
of our country clearly see a deliverance from the British 
yoke. 

At the onset, the inhabitants of this town advocated the 
Revolution and engaged to support it. Nobly did they 
redeem their promise. They furnished money as long as 
any remained to be had, and then turned out from their 
substance its equivalent. They supplied their quota of men 



SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM. 33 

to the Continental army by volunteers. By regular turns 
the soldiers were detached to serve in Rhode Island, on the 
Eastern coast, and under Arnold on his expedition against 
Canada. While the soldiers were away in the array, their 
labor was performed for them, and their families were sup- 
ported from the public treasury. 

The men and women of this town labored day and night 
to provide clothing, shoes and blankets for the army, all 
manufactured from material raised by themselves. So eager 
were they to supply these for the fathers and sons fighting 
for freedom, that no beef was allowed to be eaten, no sheep 
or lambs to be killed, that the flesh of one and wool of the 
other might afford diet and covering to the shivering form 
of some Patriot exposing his life for his country. They 
lived upon corn and pork ; their drink was water and milk ; 
their clothing rags, but within their souls burned the eternal 
fires of freedom, which to-day shine out from every hilltop 
in this wide land. Under one flag we are a free people, 
and as that flag to-day floats upon the breeze in every land 
and upon every sea, yielding ample protection to every 
American throughout the world, we should look back down 
tlie long line of the century, and return thanks beside the 
tombstones of these men and women for the boon they have 
bequeathed us. 

When this town was organized, it assumed the support, 
by taxation, of the Rev. Samuel Foxcuoft, "an able, 
learned Orthodox minister, of good conversation, to dispense 
the Word of God to them," as required by the laws of the 
Province. Then the people were united in one faith, one 
worship, and one religious teacher. Then upon every 
Sabbath, the people were required by law to attend divine 
service, and give due observance to the ordinances of relig- 



"^•i RELIGIOUS INTOLERATION. 

ion. It was the duty of certain town officers to see these 
requirements observed. 

A large portion of the early settlers of this township were 
of that iron mould, who could only see that " a rigorous 
enforcement of these laws would redound to the general 
welfare, and to the glory of God." A few thought other- 
wise, and believed that religious worship should be volun- 
tary, and free to the choice of every man, according to the 
dictates of his own conscience. 

On the 31st of May, 1775, Simon Noyes, David Mil- 
let, John Woodman and seven others, appeared in 
open town meeting and objected to the payment of any 
tax towards the Rev. Mr. Foxcroft's salary, and had 
their protest recorded ; nevertheless, the tax was assessed, 
and the}'" were compelled to pay it. Four years after, 
they again applied to the town to be allowed to provide a 
public teacher for themselves, but were refused, and paid 
their taxes. Three years after this, John Woodman and 
Adam Cotton applied to the town to repay the money 
they had paid towards the support of the minister for 
the two years previous, but were refused. Then war being 
ended, these aggrieved brethren set about in good earnest 
to procure their liberty from the support of religious 
teaching they did not approve, and Mr. John Woodman, 
the leading spirit in the measure, wearied with continued 
applications for relief, and in despair of any redress from 
the town, refused payment of all taxes for this purpose, and 
the tax gatherer^ sold his cow therefor. On the 2d of 
September, 1782, he applied to the town for indemnity, 
which was refused him. In May, the next year, he applied 
again, and was again refused. In June, 1783, opposition 
was made to raising the usual salary for the minister, but. 



A FAST OBSERVED. 



35 



the town voted to raise it, and that it was not dissatisfied 
with liim, and in the next October again voted to the same 
])urport. But November 4th, to prevent farther disputes, 
the town voted to set off from Mr. FoxcROFi's parish, all 
who were dissatisfied ; and Mr. Simon Noyes, John Stinch- 
FiELD, John Woodman, Peleg Chandler, Wm. Widg- 
ERY, Eliphalet Haskell, John Tufts, John Megquier 
and thirty-two otliers recorded their names for the purpose. 
These men represented all shades of belief. 

Here was the first decisive step for toleration in this town. 
But the victory was incomplete, for, by law, towns were still 
compelled to maintain a public religious teacher of the 
Ortliodox faith. Taxes for the purpose were levied as 
formerly until 1786, when the joint strength of the Baptists 
and Universalists carried a vote of the town by two majority, 
to absolve the former from taxes to support the town 
minister, although a like favor was refused the Universalists 
at the same meeting, by the Baptists voting with the Ortho- 
dox. 

The Universalists were not absolved from this tax until 
1789, when it was voted them, they in return voting with 
the Baptists a free consent of the town, for the hitter's incor- 
poration into a separate religious society. 

At one time the Rev. Samuel Foxcroft sent a letter to 
a town meeting, having the^e troubles under consideration, 
requesting the meeting to adjourn for two weeks, and that 
meantime the people join with the church in observing a 
fast, that greater wisdom might direct the deliberations of 
the town at the future meeting. The town having great 
respect for its religious teacher, at once complied with his 
request. The meeting adjourned and a day of fasting and 
}U'aycr was duly observed. 



36 RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES IISrCORPORATED. 

By act of the General Court, 1790, Mr. John Woodman 
and seventy-two others, were incorporated by name of " The 
Baptut Religious Society of Neio Gloucester and Gray,'''' which 
was afterward divided, and Mr. James Allen and thirty 
others were incorporated in 1803, by name of "TVie Baptist 
Society in Neiv Gloucester ^ 

In 1805, Solomon Atwood, Jr., and fortj^-eight others, 
citizens of New Gloucester, .Gray, Pejepscot and Poland, 
were incorporated by name of the " First Universalist Society 
of Christians in Neiv Gloucester.'''' 

The same year tlie town voted its consent to tlie incorpo- 
ration of the " Freewill Antipedo Baptist Society of New Glou- 
cester.^^ 

In 1818, David Nelson, Isaac Gross and thirty otiiers, 
certified to the toAvn clerk tliat they were members of an 
" Unincoi'porated Partieidar Baptist Society,'''' Avlio had for a 
religious teacher, Ekler Robert Lowe, of this town. This 
society Avas afterwards known as the Calvinist Baptist Society 
of New Gloucester, over Avhich since tlien have been settled 
many able, pious, learned and beloved pastors. 

In 1820, the Rev. Zenas Thompson was ordained in tlie 
old church, which was freely tendered to tlie Universalist 
brethren for the purpose, Avhere, less than half a century 
before, the Baptist and Universalist brethren had been for- 
bidden to worship. 

''■Let tlie great woiM spin forever clown the ringing 
grooves of change." 

The Rev. Samuel Foxcroft, a gentleman of great talents 
and fine education, from the time he was ordained over the 
cluiveh and people of this town, in 1765, until after the 
Revolution, was the sole religious teacher of an entire com- 



THE REV. SAMUEL FOXCUOFT. 37 

miinity. He stands forth to-day, a good exponent of the 
religious sentiment of his time ; a sentiment brought over 
by the Puritans ; an ideal church, to be universal, with 
none to gainsay its doctrines, none to deny them ; its 
teachers to be supported by the entire community, and in 
return the whole community to attend upon their teachings, 
that all may be gathered within the fold of the church. 

How futile such a scheme, the record of the pastorate of 
this man clearly proves. One whose piety, integrity, learn- 
ing and ability none would question, beloved by his church 
and esteemed by all ; to whose culture, instruction and ex- 
ample the people of this town are much indebted for their 
intelligence and morality. For nearly twenty years his 
pastorate continued without serious dissent, but at length, 
actuated by convictions of their own, a few became uneasy 
of the restraint upon them by the laws of the time, and 
incited by their insatiable thirst for liberty, liberty from the 
burdensome exactions of a church, as well as from the tyran- 
ical hand of a monarch, determined to sever allegiance from 
that religious rule to which they could not honestly submit. 
And at the end of the next decade, when the Rev. Mr. Fox- 
croft voluntarily laid down his charge in 1793, he saw his 
ancient parish, once united in one belief, now severed into 
as many religious sects as the conscience of man told him 
was right. A sad spectacle indeed, that truth could not be 
viewed by all alike, and glorious too, that thought at last is 
free. 

This town for a long time, doubtless owing to dissensions 
among the people, remained without a settled j)ublic teacher ; 
and at the June term, 1800, of the Supreme Judicial Court, 
held at Portland, the Attorney General of the Common- 
wealth filed an information against the town for not having 



38 REV. ELISHA MOSELY AND OTHER PASTORS. 

procured a settled minister for above five years ; and upon 
summons, Nathaniel Coit Allen, an agent chosen by the 
town, appeared and answered in a spirit of humility, that 
the town did not wish to contend with the Commonwealth. 
The case was continued for judgment from term to term, 
until May term, 1802, when the town having procured a 
settled minister and paid the costs, the Solicitor General 
said he would prosecute no further. 

This is the last recorded act of the town concerning relig- 
ious matters. Here political and religious interests bade 
adieu, and started down the nineteenth century by separate 
and distinct roads. To-day three-fourths of that century 
has gone, and experience tells us, to that parting we owe 
the religious liberty in which we live, and which we should 
bequeath to those after us as unsullied as we found it. 

In 1802, the meeting house had been conveyed to the 
First Parish, and Rev. Elisha Mosely was " ordained as 
pastor of that people," who died in the pastoral office in 1826, 
after a long and useful service. 

"In liis duty prompt at every call, 
He watched, and wept, he prayed and felt for all, 
And as a bird, each fond endeavor tries 
To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, 
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay. 
Allured to brighter worlds and led the way." 

Since then there have been installed as pastors over that 
parish, the Rev. Benj. Rice, October, 1828 ; the Rev. Sam'l 
H. Shepley, Oct. 30, 1838 ; the Rev. Newall A. Prince, 
October 17, 1848 ; the Rev. Chas. Packard, November 2, 
1864 ; the Rev. Wellington R. Cross, September 7, 1865, 
who resigned in 1873, and the pastoral office is now vacant. 



THE OLD CHURCHYARD. 39 

In 1797, the road from Bald Hill to Poland was Luilt, 
and in 1801, from the mills to Sabbath Day Pond. 

In 1787, the town voted unanimously, to adopt the Federal 
Constitution without amendment, and instructed its Repre- 
sentative to the General Court, the Hon. William Widg- 
ERY to use his influence to have the District of Maine erected 
into a separate and independent State, and for the emission 
of paper money, and general amnesty for the Tories. That 
year the block house was sold at auction for seven bushels 
of corn. 

In 1806, Nathaniel Coit Allen and others, conceived 
the idea of a canal from the Little Androscoggin to Royal's 
River, but on account of opposition from the town for fear 
of an increased volume of water along the intervales, the 
project was abandoned. 

John Stinchfield and Nicholas Chesley were mighty 
hunters, and in 1779 the town paid the latter 6£ a head for 
wolves killed in town. In 1785 Peter Graffam shot a 
bear from the big elm by Woodman's Bridge. 

Early were the settlers of this town reminded — 

"There is a reaper whose name is Death, 
And with his sickle keen, 
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, 
And the flowers that grow between." 

They selected yonder burying place, near the first clear- 
ing, upon a warm slope beside the brook, above the mill. 
w^iere they might safely visit the spot under cover of the 
block house, and there sorrowfully laid the first of their 
number that died. In 1798 that lot was conveyed to the 



40 A HALF SHIRE TOWN, 1792. 

town, although a common had been reserved about the 
block house for a meeting house lot and churchj^ard, which 
was then relinquished to the adjoining owners. 

Around that place entwine the affections of us all ; there 
repose our ancestors; there is all that remains of many who 
began this life by our side, and early faltered and fell beside 
the way, or whose footsteps kept along with ours well down 
the journey of life. Fathers and mothers are there ; wives 
and children are there ; more of us will soon be there. Let this 
spot be garnished and adorned ; let it be turned into a garden 
tiiat tlie fragrance of its flowers may soften the air, and 
their purity typify the spirits that were, that the place may 
not seem a cold gravejard, but rather a cheerful home. 

"'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose 
Friends out of sight, in faith to muse 
How grows in Paradise our store." 

In 1792, this town became a half shire town with Port- 
land, and the Courts of General Sessions of the Peace, and 
of Common Pleas sat regularly here once each year till 
1805, when Oxford County was formed and they returned 
to Portland. 

These Courts sat each winter at the Court House standing 
at the center of the town just above the present Pound. 
The Sessions Judges always had rooms at Mr. John Wood- 
man's and the Jurors had rooms at the " Bell Tavern," kept 
by Peleg Chandler. The Common Pleas Judges fre- 
quently were the guests of Col. Isaac Parsons, and in 
extreme cold days sometimes held their courts beside his 
blazing fire. In this Court as many as four hundred and 
fifty new cases were entered at a term. The Judges that 
sat here in this Court were the Hons. Daniel Mitchell, 



WAR OF 1812. 41 

John Lewis, Josiah Thatcher, William Gorham, 
Stephen Longfellow, Robert Southgate and John 
Frothingham ; the Clerk was Enoch Freeman, and Sheriff 
John Waite, Esq. The Hon. William Widgery, after- 
wards a Judge of this Court, then was a Judge in the 
General Sessions of the Peace. 

The old pound by the meeting house had a whipping post 
in the middle, and stocks beside it, where offenders received 
their deserts. Noisy people were confined in the stocks on 
Sundays, town meeting and training days when they became 
troublesome. 

Court time filled the village with strangers, jurors, suitors 
and witnesses. All the principal lawyers in the county 
attended here upon Court, and here most of the cases from 
the back country were tried. 

Political excitement never was more intense than in 1812. 
Navigation had been restricted by an embargo ; our vessels 
were rotting at the \vharves and our commerce had been 
swept from the ocean. Articles of foreign manufacture and 
all imported goods were scarce, and their prices high. This 
town in 1809 had voted a petition* to have the embargo 
removed, and being opposed to the war, when the President 
called for one hundred thousand militia from the several 
States, a town meeting was held on the 24th of July, 1812. 
and the town voted by a large majority, that — 

[A part of tlio preamble is omitled.] 
"Whereas our country, from tlie highest of national grandeur, 
prosperity and felicity, to whicli it attained during the adminis- 
trations of Washington and Adams, is now sunk to the lowest 
ebb of degradation, contempt and misery, and this caUmiity and 



* See Appendix. 

4 



42 INDICTED FOR WANT OF MILITAEY STOEES. 

distress have been the necessary results of the systems and 
measures conceived and pursued by Jefferson and Madison, of 
crooked and deceitful policy, which could only originate in sorrow 
and wickedness, and has a direct tendency to dismember the 
Union, to which the inhabitants of this town have been strongly 
attached, and to wliich they will still cling as the ark of their 
political safety, and inasmuch as they are anxious to maintain 
the union of the States, and would discountenance all rebellious 
opposition to government, and rely only on constitutional reme- 
dies for correcting the manifold and aggravated evils endured, 
and as our rulers, by their wayward policy, have beggared the 
nation and made it unable to afford an adequate support to those 
citizens who may be called upon to defend it from invasion, and 
as we are willing to share the burdens with our townsmen, be 
whose lot it may, to be dragged out in support of this Avar — 
therefore voted to make the pay of soldiers equal to ten dollars 
a month." 

At the same meeting a Committee of Safety was chosen. 

In 1814, the town w^as indicted for not being provided 
with military stores, as required by law. 

In 1815, the people had become so demoralized in conse- 
quence of the deplorable state of affairs, that many neglected 
attendance upon divine worship, thereby giving an example 
tending to corrupt the religious principles of the youth ; and 
therefore the town chose that year twenty-eight tything- 
men, seventeen of whom qualified for the office, and 
so effectually did they correct the evil habits of the people, 
that but two such officers were needed and chosen the next 
year. 

At the annual meeting, 1816, Capt. Nathaniel Eveleth 
voluntarily declined the office of Towm Clerk, which he had 
held for forty-two consecutive years, accurately recording 



SLAVERY DENOUNCED. 48 

with his own hand all the doings of the town in that period, 
for which he received a unanimous vote of thanks from the 
town.* 

In 1819 the town voted to adopt the Constitutions of 
Maine, and also — 

" That the town do consider slavery, in all its forms, as opposed 
to the dictates of humanity and tlie Christian religion, and re- 
pugnant to the principles of our Ilopublican Constitutions, and 
subversive of the rights and liberties of man, and that Congress 
lias the right to require a prohibition of slavery in any State 
a<lnutted into the Union." 

And also voted, unanimously,— 

'"To memorialize Congress against the admission of any new 
State into the Union, by the Constitution of which slavei'y sh'aVl 
not be prohibited." 

These principles are realized to-day, but at what fearful 
cost ! Who can estimate it ? The vacant places in fam- 
ilies of this people show how dearly was purchased the 
rights, which were asserted here more than a half century 
ago. 

From the Revolution till within the memory of many 
present, two companies of Infantry were enrolled in this- 
towqi, and beside these, one company of Riflemen, one 
company of Cavalry and one of Artillery have been recruited 
here. All these troops, after the erection of Maine, were 
attached to the fifth Division, first Brigade, and the Infantry 
to the first Recriment. Their training field was on the 



*Miij. Natiianiki, ICvklktii, an aged and lioiuircd citizen, and a son of tlio 
veteran Town Clerk, kindly furrished me with a private book of records, 
from wliicli I gatlicred nuicli of tlie early liistory of the town, and to whom T. 
wish thus publicly to return thanks for liis kindness. 



44 MILITIA — SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS. 

common about the old meeting house, and there, amid the 
applause of the entire populace, many deeds of valor were 
performed, which are recounted even to this day. 

The rank and file of these troops furnished officers for the 
Massachusetts and Maine Militia of the highest rank, and 
could I call them to pass in review, you would see emerge 
from the dim vista of the past the commanding forms of 
Generals Allen, Fessenden, Megquiee, Webber and 
Gross ; Cols. Parsons, Foxceoft, Jordan and Cush- 
MAN ; Majs. Eveleth, Chandler, Cushman, Nelson, 
Hammond, Stevens, Allen, Webster, Latham, Tobie, 
WiNSLOw and White, followed by Maj. James Eveleth 
with his corps of musicians, drowning all with their noise. 
Then would come a host of Captains and subalterns and 
other officers, dimly seen through the veil of oblivion ; but 
you would recognize the stentorian voices of Capts. Wm. 
Haskell and Peletiah Lyon echoing in the distance as 
the train disappears from sight. 

Spirituous liquors were openly retailed in this town until 
the year 1832, when the town voted not to use them at 
town's cost while at work on the roads, and not to grant 
licenses to sell the same, and to prosecute those who do ; 
hut as the chillj^ frosts of Autumn came, the people were 
reminded by the pinching cold how necessary it was to 
provide warmth within as well as clothing without, and re- 
considered that vote, and nine licenses were immediately 
issued to meet the emergency of the case. 

Here was the first recorded skirmish with intemperance, 
and those men, who then made a stand for temperance and 
morality, can with pride and joy point to the fact, that to-day 
not a glass of spirituous liquor can be purchased for a bev- 



THE OLD CHURCH. 45 

erage in this town, and for the past decade not a single grog 
shop has existed within its borders. 

Tlie year 1832 also brought reform, in care for the poor, 
who had previously been sold at auction, and the town 
voted — 

"That the practice of setting up at auction those of our fellow 
creatures who, through misfortune and adversity, have become 
unable to support and maintain themselves, is revolting to a civ- 
ilized and Christian community." 

That year and the next they were properly cared for, but 
in 1834 the majority again voted for the old method, and 
they were again sold ; but soon after a town farm was pur- 
chased, and now the poor of the town have a comfortable 
home in their adversity. 

The roads in this town have always been repaired and 
maintained by a labor tax, except that, in the year 1837, a 
money tax was raised for the purpose, and expended by the 
Selectmen as surveyors of highway^. 

Tlie Old Church stood with its front to the road, and had 
a tall square tower upon the south-west end, lighted with 
long, narrow windows and covered with a concave roof, 
above which extended upward an iron rod supporting two 
brass balls, with a vane at its top. A porch was at the op- 
posite end. One entrance was through the base of the tower, 
another from the porch, and a third was in the center of the 
front side. Stair-cases led to the galleries within, from the 
tower and porch at each end. The outside was once painted 
white, but from long exposure at last assumed a shady hue. 
Twenty-six windows, in two rows, encircled it, with twenty- 
four panes of glass, eight by ten inches in size, in each. 
The pulpit Wiis on the back side, opposite the front door, 



46 THE OLD CHUKCH. 

and so high that the preacher could view the galleries which 
surrounded the other three sides upon a level with his eyes. 
A huge sounding board overhung the sacred, desk, and in 
small closets within it, opening on each side, the town's store 
of powder was kept. A rail encircled the communion table 
and the deacon's seats beside it. Upon either hand of the 
pulpit, from the galleries, projected small balconies with 
seats for the colored brethren, while directly below these, 
near the pulpit, sat the wardens, with long poles to wake the 
sleepers. A broad aisle led from the front door to the 
communion table with seats upon each side in front, for 
those whose hearing was impaired. Another crossed this 
at right angles, extending from the doors at each end, while 
a third encircled the house a pew's length from the walls. 
The pews were inclosed with paneled Avails and doors, 
mounted with a "rail and banisters." The seats within 
turned upward on hinges that the occupants might stand 
erect. Small holes through the floor served the chewers 
of tobacco for spittoons. The audience room was fifty- 
six by forty-five feet in size, nearly square, with twenty-four 
feet between ceiling and floor, which was scoured to snowy 
whiteness. No paint was anywhere to be seen. 

Within those walls was many an exciting scene in politi- 
cal affairs. There many a tilt in town matters. There all 
elections were held, until in 1838 the present town house, 
formerly the old Baptist meeting-house, was purchased for 
the sum of three hundred dollars. 

There too the people attended divine worship without 
any fire or place for building one ; there all intentions of 
marriage were publicly cried from the galleries at church 
time for three consecutive Sundays. The singers sat oppo- 
site the pulpit, and sang the old songs of Zion to music from 



THE SCHOOLS. 47 

fiddles, flutes, bass-viols and divers other instruments of 
the olden time. At last the old editice, in 1838, gave place 
to the present Congregational church standing on the same 
spot. There for more than a hundred years the same gospel 
has been preached and the same psalms sung : 

" For precept must ho upon precept, precept upon precept, 
Line upon Ihie, line upon line, here a little and there a little." 

Imbued with the belief that universal education was the 
foundation of all free institutions, the General Court of the 
Province reserved one sixty-third part of this township for 
the support of free schools, which created a fund of over 
four thousand dollars. 

In 1764, one public school was established at the center 
of the township, and there maintained until the town was 
incorporated, when a school-master Avas emploj'ed, and the 
school was then kept in different parts of the town by turns 
until 1777, when the school money was divided into four 
parts, and each of four districts drew its part according to 
the number of its scholars, but agents to employ the teachers 
wei'e chosen by the town. In 1790, one new district was 
formed. In 1805, a committee of five was chosen to inspect 
the schools. In 1803, three new districts were formed, and 
not till 1823 did the several districts select their own agents to 
employ teachers and provide for the schools. From that 
time to near the present, the school money has been expend- 
ed in that way, the town always having a superintending 
school committee selected from its best citizens. 

In 1792, a few zealous Shakers held meetings in this town 
near the present Shaker Village, and by their persuasive rea- 
soning and pious example, a sufficient number were converted 



48 THE SHAKERS. 

to their belief to form a church and society. In 1794, their 
society was organized and a meeting-house built, from which 
time the growth of their settlement has been steady and 
permanent. To-day a thousand acres of the best land in 
town yields its harvest under their skillful care. Seeds 
from their garden, and the product of their manufactures, 
are to be seen in the market, living witnesses to their in- 
dustry and skill ; while their beautiful village, filled with 
trees bending with ripening fruit, as it lies sloping towards 
the glassy surface of Sabbath Day Pond, at once arrests the 
attention of the traveler, and persuades him to partake 
within their hospitable home. 

For a century following the first settlement of this town- 
ship, lumbering was a profitable industry for this people. 
Between Royal's River and the Little Androscoggin, was 
the best tract of pine timber lands ever known in Maine. 
From these, pines were drawn past the center of the town 
to the public landing below the "great bridge," on Royal's 
River, before the Revolution, two cargoes of masts for the 
Royal Navy of the King of England. These masts were 
floated down that stream to the anchorage of the British 
transports, below Yarmouth (being hauled around the Falls). 

In 1824, a hundred ox teams loaded with lumber .were 
frequently seen in a day, to pass the center of the town 
down the Yarmouth road. Then all the travel from the 
North passed there. Mail coaches and private carriages of 
all descriptions were continually going, and the village was 
lively and ga}^. But in 1833, the road was opened from 
the Upper Corner to Harris Hill. This turned a large por- 
tion of the travel to Gray Corner, and the upper village 
became the principal center of travel. 

Until 1841 this town steadily increased in population, 



WESTWARD BOUND, 1841. 49 

drawn hither for employment in the thriving local trade 
and business of the place, but from that day the tide turned 
in other directions. The diligent hand of the pioneer had 
stripped the noble pine from its native soil ; the local lum- 
bering trade had substantially ceased ; new fields for em- 
ployment were opened ; Massachusetts, Avitli her thriving 
manufactures, called for operatives ; the West began to 
attract the attention of the young men ; California opened 
her golden mines, and the glittering ore called some thither. 
The current began to set westward ; the open prairie and 
fertile bottom lands, towards the setting sun, were already 
waiting for the seed to cover their surface with golden 
grain. The iron horse, propelled by steam, soon made these 
hills resound with his shrill alarm, and tamed the soft bosom 
of the intervale to his continued tread. At his heels were 
drawn palatial coaches to carry our people from home, or a 
long train of wagons loaded with produce, hastening on to 
feed the hungry throngs at commercial centers. The mail 
coach ceased its lumbering roll ; no more did the weary 
traveler take his rest within your hospitable taverns, and 
soon their doors were closed. The young men no longer 
made this their abiding place, still here was their home, and 
here' would they again return as the waning sun of life 
approached the horizon, that where they were born, there 
would be their peaceful resting place. 

This change may have startled those of this generation 
who still linger among us, and their faces may be furrowed 
with sadness as they look backward to the bright days of 
their manhood. But is there nothing cheerful in the out- 
look? As they review the better part of a century, can 
they not feel a satisfaction in what has been accomplished ? 
Can they not see the rapid strides of progress ? Can they 



50 A CHEERFUL OUTLOOK. 

not feel that the times are moving forward, and not back- 
ward ? Let sucli look out on these broad, smooth fields, 
green again, having been shorn by the even clipping scythe 
of the mowing machine. Let them view the long eared 
corn and heavy headed grain as it sweeps in the wind, and 
see the fruit trees loaded with blushing fruit. Let them 
not forget the old thoroughbrace wagon, (a wonder in its 
day), and the rough, unwrought roads, and old tote paths 
with the saddle and pillion, as they now glide smoothly upon 
fine broad roads through all parts of the town in carriages, 
for ease and elegance undreamed of forty years since. As 
they go let them inspect the snug white farmhouses and 
capacious barns, filled with produce and cattle, and find the 
people no longer wearing homespun, but rather clad with 
fabrics from abroad, with goods of fine texture manufactured 
in our own State ; find them fed with flour from the West, 
with frviit from the Tropics, and supplied with tea, coffee 
and spices from the East ; and then let them say whether 
the toil of a century has been fruitless. 

No longer do a privileged class exclusively enjoy the 
comforts of life, but now labor receives its reward, and the 
laborer finds dollars in his pocket, where a half century ago 
cents would have been wanting. Intolerance has ceased to be 
" the head-stone of the corner." The silvery tones of church 
bells each Sabbath morning now call the people to worship 
in places of their own choice, or leave them to the solitude 
of their own homes, secure from official intrusion. Each 
neighborhood has its own school, and a high school affords 
its privileges to all alike. Loafing places and grog shops, 
where the news was passed from hand to hand, have given 
place to the post-office, at which the daily and weekly papers, 
both religious and secular, are distributed, to be perused by 



HONORED SONS AND CITIZENS. 51 

all memberj of the several families in town. In every house 
can now be read the entire news of the world. The railroad 
and telegraph annihilate both space and time, and much 
that a few years ago was unknown, is now reported in every 
home. Colleges, seminaries and other institutions of learn- 
ing are within the reach of every student, books are at 
his command, and the youth are at school, instead of toil- 
ing in the father's field till the end of their twenty-first 
year. 

From the onset till now, this town has had a steady 
growth, and to-day its valuation is higher than ever before ; 
its people are better educated, better clad, and enjoy more 
of the comforts of life than at any time past. 

Its sons have gone out through this wide land to utilize 
those principles instilled into their youthful minds by the 
political, moral and religious atmosphere of the place. 
Among them are the names of Greenleaf, Chandler, 
Fessenden, Woodman, Webber, Ingersoll, Hill, Mer- 
rill, Penney and Rowe. 

Here have resided the Hons. Nathan Weston, Ezekiel 
Whitman, Samuel Fessenden, and Wm. Widgery; Col. 
Isaac Parsons, and Peleg Chandler, the Father and 
Son; the Hons. Wm. Bradbury and Sewall N. Gross; 
Dr. Timothy Little ; and the Rev. Franklin Yeaton, 
beloved by all, besides scores of other honored names. 

From here, too, have gone those patriots who rallied 
al)0ut their country's flag when assailed by the vile hands 
of traitors, in the last war. They are known to you all, 
and the memories of those who did not return are bright 
in your affections to-day. They need no eulogy, but their 
names should be engraved upon some imperishable stone, 
that generations who follow us may adorn it with gar- 



52 AMERICA. 

lands, in gratitude for the liberties they purchased with their 
lives for us and our posterity for all coming time. 

My Friends : — With pride I have reviewed with you the 
history of our native town for a hundred years, and as I 
stand, protected from the scorching rays of a noonday sun 
by this vast canopy, a device of modern genius, beside these 
planks, relics from the old blockhouse, and bid adieu to the 
century that has gone, replete with noble deeds of our 
ancestors, it is fitting I should demand, in their names, as 
we enter upon the century that now begins, that those prin- 
ciples of liberty and eternal justice, which they maintained 
at such fearful cost, shall be kept inviolate, that they who 
celebrate this event at the end of another hundred years 
can say of us as we truly say of these ancestors of ours — 

NOBLE MEN, 

IMMOETAL FAMES, 

NEVER BORN TO DIE. 

The oration closed at quarter past twelve, and after 
the band played " Hail Columbia " the entire audience 
rose and joined with the choir in singing 

"AMERICA." 

"My coiintry, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty. 
Of thee I sing ; 

Land where ray fathers died, ' 

Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
From every mountain side 
Let freedom rinff. 



THE BANQUET. ^^ 

My native country, thee — 
Land of the noble, free — 
Thy name — I love ; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills, 
My heart with rapture thrills 
Tvike that above. 

Our fatlicrs' God! to thee 

Author of liberty. 

To thee we sing : 

Long may our land be bright 

With Freedom's holy light ; 

Protect us, by thy might, 

Great God, our King!" 

A blast from "ye anciente home " then summoned 
the people to the 

BANQUET. 

The Rev. H. M. Perkins, supplying the Congrega- 
tional pulpit, at New Gloucester, pronounced the fol- 
lowing 

BLESSING. 

O Lord ! our Heavenly Father, we ask Thy blessing upon 
us at this time. We have been refreshed by pleasant mem- 
ories connected with the history of this town, and now we 
gather around this festive board so richly and heavily laden 
with the bounties of Thy providence, the tokens of Thy 



•^4 LETTEE OF GOY. DINGLE Y. 

love. We are reminded of Thee, who "openest Thine hand 
and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." 

May the enjoyments of this memorable and interesting 
occasion result in the mutual good and the spiritual welfare 
of all who are assembled here. These memories we ask in 
the name of our Redeemer. Amen. 

Then dinner was served by the ladies of the town. 
It consisted of tea and coifee, baked beans and brown 
bread, all piping hot, cold meats of the various kinds, 
prepared in every conceivable shape, bread, butter, 
cheese and pickles, all kinds of pies and cakes, melons 
and other fruit. 

At two o'clock the President called the assemblage 
to order, and Amos H. Nevins, Esq., the Toast Master, 
oif ered the following toasts : 

Massachusetts our Mother. We cherish her memory. 

Response by the Band. 

The followino; letter was read from the Hon. Nelson 
Dingley, Je., Governor of Maine : 

Executive Department, 

Augusta, Sept. 4, 1874. 
Gentlemen : 

I regret that a prior engagement will prevent my acceptance 
of your kind invitation to be present on the occasion of ihe Cen- 
tennial Anniversary of New Gloucester. I doubt not that the 
exercises of the day.Avill be of interest and profit, and will espec- 
ially serve to increase the respect and love of every native of 



RESPONSE BY W. W. TlIOMxVS, JR. 55 

New Gloucester for a town wliich lias a history and prestige of 
which every son of Maine may well be proml. 
Very respectfully yours, 

NELSON DINGLEY, JR. 
Messrs. Joseph Cross, 

A. II. Nkyins, 

A. C. Chandler, Committee. 

The State of Maixe. May the daughter ever prove worthy 
of the mother. 

Res23onse by Hon. William Widgery Thomas, Jr., 
of Portland, Speaker of the House of Representatives : 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I am proud to respond to the sentiment " the State of 
Maine." Where indeed is there a son or daughter of Maine 
that is not proud of his mother State? It is indeed a noble 
State, a State of unlimited resources. In our quarries of 
limestone, slate and granite are mines of wealth, not only for 
to-day but throughout all ages ; in fact, in the very cliffs of 
our rock bound State, is greater wealth and greater pur- 
chasing power than in the fertile soil of the most fertile 
State of the West. Our extensive coast is notched along its 
entire length with the very best harbors in the world, and 
our swift rivers bear with them in their fall, power sufficient 
to turn the factories of the nation ; a power no longer flowing 
all idly to the sea, but which, lashed to the wheel, now 
turns the spindles of industry. And the ships of Maine, ships 
whose timbers are cut in our forests, and whose keels are 
laid along our shores, sail every sea and carry the flag of 
the Republic to the utmost maritime nations of the globe. 
But the noblest crop the State of Maine produces is lier 
men; aye, and her women. Here in Maine we raise men; 



56 RESPONSE BY W W THOMAS, JR 

men who are born and nurtured on our breezy hills ; whose 
muscles and sinews are toughened by work on the farm, 
and whose minds and souls are enlarged and ennobled by 
the teachings of our schools and churches ; men who grow 
up with sound minds in sound bodies, and who fight nobly 
the battle of life wherever their lot may be cast. 

It has become an adage, that wherever you travel you 
find men from Maine. This is true, and it is no less true 
that wherever 3^ou find them, you find brave, solid characters ; 
men who take the lead in the communities where they 
dwell ; men whom you are glad to take by the hand and call 
brother. 

I am glad to be present at this celebration, which carries 
us back one hundred years, to the founding of this good 
town. We Americans are too prone to look forward to the 
future. It is well, therefore, on such a day as this, to look 
back upon the past ; to call up before us the sturdy pioneers, 
our forefathers, and to reflect upon their characters and the 
work they have done for us. 

When the first settlers came here, what were these ver- 
dant hills? An unbroken forest; a howling wilderness; 
the abode of savage beasts and still more savage men. 
What toil, to turn the forest into farms ! The giant trees 
must be felled, "junked," "hand-piled" and burned. All 
summer long, from morn till night, the pioneers must labor 
with axe and brand in their clearings, and when winter 
comes on, they can have at best but blackened fields, filled 
with blackened stumps, but not a kernel from these fields 
to eat. The next Spring seed may be hacked in between 
the stumps, and the next Fall — the second Fall — the earth 
first yields her increase. In the meantime, houses and barns 



RESPONSE BY W. W. THOMAS, JR. •'>' 

must be built, and the settlers and their cattle must live as best 
(licy m;iy. Life for the pioneers of this town, and in fact of 
our whole State, was in truth a battle, an incessant, perpetual 
hand to hand fight with savage nature and savage men, for 
existence. 

My friendfi^ only when we reflect upon what our fathers 
endured and accomplished, can we truly appreciate their 
indomitable courage and iron will. They felled the forests ; 
tliey smoothed these fields ; they built these roads and 
bridges ; they made the land inhabitable ; and we enjoy 
the fruit of their labors. And to-da}', as we celebrate 
the birthday of the town, is it not pertinent, is it not 
proper, that we ask ourselves what would its founders 
have us to do? Surely they would not have us idly 
sit and enjoy what they have done for us. They would 
bid us go on in the pathway they have marked out for us. 
True it is, New Gloucester is one of the most beautiful 
lowns in the State. You have wide spreading elms, cosy 
houses, beautiful gardens and bountiful orchards. But rest 
not content with these. Go on ! Plant shade trees along 
every way ; enlarge and improve your gardens and orchards ; 
and work without ceasing, as did 3^our fathers before you, 
to make your farms more profitable and more attractive. 
Hut this is not enough. It is not sufficient to imitate the 
thrift, energy and perseverance of our ancestors. We shall 
not have read the lesson of this day aright if we do not also 
imitate and emulate their honesty, truth and virtue ; and 
surely never were these sterling qualities more needed than 
to-day, in business, in politics and in the church. 

This, then, is the true lesson of our Centennial Day, — to 
emulate the virtues of our fathers. Thus shall we most 
honor them, our town, and our good State of Maine. 

5 



58 RESPONSE BY HON. J. J. BABSON. 

Gloucester. "We welcome her to-day to our hearts and 
homes. 

Response by Hon. John J. Babson, of Gloucester. 
Massachusetts. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is with the ver)^ highest satisfaction that I find myself 
here to-day. ,1 don't know that I can claim relationship witli 
any of you. I have no claim as a son of New Gloucester : 
but perhaps if we were to look into the genealogy for the 
past generation, many of us might be able to trace up our 
pedigree to common ancestors. HoAvever that may be, 
it is from another view than anything connected with per- 
sonal relationship, that I appear before you to-day, and 
enjoy so much pleasure on this occasion. 

A great many years ago, I had occasion to investigate the 
families of our present town, and of course, in that investi- 
gation, I had occasion to become acquainted with the history 
of those who came to New Gloucester. I had occasion to 
learn all the facts of your early history, and I became so 
well acquainted with the names of these that it seemed as 
if I had been acquainted with all the families in the old 
town, and consequently in the new. 

I hardly know where to begin in speaking of the early 
settlement of New Gloucester. I do not know as I can add 
anything to your knowledge regarding these hardy, worthy, 
wonderful men, brought up in the wild woods, about one 
hundred and thirty years ago. They were not ordinary 
men ; of that I am convinced from my investigations and 
my knowledge of families of my own town and other towns 
in New England. The Eveleths, Parsonses, Haskells 



RESPONSE BY HON. J. J. BABSON. 59 

Davises (and I might name many others), were among the 
most influential and best families of the parent town, and 
they are Avorthy of all the respect and regard we can show 
them. 

I need not remind you that the Parsons family, whicli 
has been so well represented in New Gloucester, as it is now 
the most numerous family we have in old Gloucester, fur- 
nished the eminent Chief Justice, who, in the opinion of his 
cotemporaries, was the most eminent lawyer on this side of 
the Atlantic. I might call your attention to the Haskells 
and tell you how many have been representatives, selectmen, 
deacons and elders in the church, but all this would be un- 
necessary and take up too much of 3'our time. Let me 
therefore say that these settlers were worthy of the greatest 
honor and the most affectionate remembrances you can enter- 
tain for them. It was on account of my interest in them, 
that I made up my mind, as soon as I saw in the newspaper 
you were to celebrate this anniversary, that one voice from 
the old town should be heard among you on the happy com- 
pletion of the first century of your corporate existence, and 
to bid you God speed on the commencement of another. 

My first visit among the people of New Gloucester was 
upwards of thirty years ago, when, impelled by the same- 
motive to which I before alluded on the occasion of becom- 
ing acquainted with your old families, I came down liere and 
spent only one or two days, but I shall never forget the 
pleasure I derived on that occasion. I visited the oldest 
people I could find. I remember a visit I made to two 
elderly gentlemen about eighty years of age. I called on 
one and accidentally the other happened to be present. It 
would do your hearts good to see the eagerness with which 



60 RESPONSE BY HON. J. J. BABSON. 

they got me clown between them, asking me questions about 
old Cape Ann and telling me anecdotes of their early life. 

I cannot forget that on that visit I called upon two or 
three families of elderly women. I remember at one house 
I found two maiden ladies that I thought far advanced in 
years then (the children of a very aged father recently 
deceased), and who entertained me sometime with an ac- 
count of the talk of their father and mother for years before 
their death about old Cape Ann ; how their recollections 
seemed to wander around the old trees, the old rocks around 
the old home ; what joys and sorrows they had known, and 
all the incidents connected with people they had known 
there. When I took my leave they came to the window to 
express the great joy they had in my visit, and how much 
good it had done them to hear from old Cape Ann. And I 
count it quite a wonderful thing, that I find here to-day one 
of those old ladies upon whom I then called. I wondered 
when I was coming down how long they had been dead, 
when all of a sudden this venerable lady passed by me and 
was called Miss Rowe. I at once recognized her as one of 
the ladies I have just referred to. I made a subsequent 
visit ten years afterwards and enjoyed the hospitalities of 
Col. FoxcKOFT, one of your best citizens at that time. 

I found these ancient persons cheerful, happy, pleasant, 
good-natured, willing to stay if it were to be so, and willing 
to go when the Lord saw fit to call them. So that I thought 
that old age was not so disagreeable a thing after all. 
When I looked into the cheerful face of this venerable lady 
and felt the grip of her hand, I felt I had alighted on a 
happy soul, and I have no doubt that I did. But I must 
not dwell upon these personal recollections ; other voices 



RESPONSE BY HON. J. J. BABSON. 61 

are ready to be raised for your entertainment, and I will 
only add one or two words more. 

Some years ago a very venerable man who was our Town 
Clerk for man}'- years, and who was employed as a Surveyor 
in New Gloucester more than eighty years ago, told me 
that he had a very intimate friend among the earlier settlers 
of New Gloucester, who had besought him very often to 
make her a visit, but he had never seen an opportunity to 
do so, until on one occasion he had been visiting Portland 
and concluded he would spend the Sabbath with his old 
friend in New Gloucester. He procured a horse and chaise, 
and started, but before he had completed his journey his 
horse was stopped by an officer who told him he must get 
out and go with him. That was a time when the Sunday 
laws were upon our Statute book, which compelled the 
officer to arrest every one engaged in any unnecessary em- 
ployment on the Sabbath Day. My venerable old friend 
said he pleaded hard to be allowed to proceed ; that he was 
on a visit of necessity almost ; that he was in Portland on 
business, and having an old and intimate friend in New 
Gloucester whom he valued very highly, and not being able 
to visit her on a week day, he thought, inasmuch as it was 
a case of intimate friendship, he would take Sunday. But 
the officer was inexorable. After some further pleading on 
the part of my friend, the officer inquired his name. He 
told him his name, and said he, *' I am on my way to see 
Mrs. Such-a-one." Whereupon, the officer exclaimed, 
"Bless me! that is my wife ; come right home with me.". 
I need not say that he gladly accepted the invitation, met 
with a very cordial reception, and the husband made him 
forget the attempt to arrest him for breaking the laws of the 
Sabbath. 



62 RESPONSE BY HON. J. J. BABSON- 

Mr. President, I have but one word more. When I look 
around on this beautiful town, its pleasant fields, its great 
means for all human enjoyment, I wonder why the popula- 
tion is slightly diminishing rather than increasing ; I ask 
myself if it is because of the dislike of the young men to 
farming occupations, or is it because the soil is all taken up 
and croi^ped so long that it is not fit for cultivation ? But 
I meet with no satisfactory response. I hear that the op- 
portunities for farming are as good here as they ever were, 
and the young make a sad mistake in going away from 
these pleasant homes and fields to mingle in the dissipations, 
or at least the temptations of our larger communities. 
The parent town contains about 17,000 people. A year 
or two ^ ago we obtained a city charter, and now we 
have all the paraphernalia of a city government. We have 
a police force, which I suppose is supported at an expense 
equal to your whole tax, made necessary by a vice, which I 
heard from your Orator with the greatest satisfaction, does 
not exist in your town. Oh ! that the young men would be 
wise in time, and not seek to exchange the innocence and 
simplicity of farm life, for the dangers, turmoil and disap- 
pointments that follow the accomplishment of the desires to 
get away into the cities. I will close by offering you this 
sentiment : 

To THE MEMORY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF NeW GLOUCES- 
TER : May the hardships they endured, the virtues they dis- 
played in founding on this spot a pleasant home for themselves 
and their descendants, be ever remembered with a grateful 
appreciation by all the coming generations who may dwell 
herein. 



RESPONSE BY C P. HASKELL. 63 

New Gloucester now, and one hundred years ago. 

Response by Charles Peter Haskell, of New 
Gloucester. 

Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens : 

New Gloucester hardly needs an advocate to-day. She 
has been speaking for herself the last hundred years in tones 
that cannot well be misunderstood ; indeed, at one time 
dividing the judicial honors of proud old Cumberland County 
with Portland herself. 

One hundred years ago, at church or in the field, the old 
flint lock musket was the settlers' truest friend ; now the 
citizen can worship or labor with none to molest or make 
him afraid. Then on each returning Sabbath, families on 
horseback rode to the old church to keep holy time ; now 
their descendants ride in light buggies and easy phaetons to 
their chosen places of worship. It is true, the eloquence of 
the elder Foxcroft, Mosely, Stinchfield and Wood- 
man in the pulpit has long been silent ; yet others have 
come and stand in their places to break unto the people the 
bread of life. 

Little, once at the head of his profession, no longer 
rides with his saddle-bags behind him over our hills to heal 
the sick ; now his successors drive in their easy carriages to 
make their welcome calls. The blast of the postman's horn, 
as he rode solitary and alone up the Portland road bearing 
the scanty mail, long since ceased, and Longley and IIowE, 
seated on the top of their rattling coaches, no longer rein 
their horses at yonder corner ; neither do we see the long 
line of freighted teams winding down the Yarmouth road, 
but the iron horse and railway car thunder along our valley. 
Grosvener and Abbey, the large-liearted Bearce, the ac- 



64 RESPONSE BY C P. HASKELL. 

coraplished Foxcroft and the jovial Chandler, of whom it 
was said in later days, 

" He was ever on hand, ' • 

When iron was rising tlie value of land," 

are no longer seen in their jjlaces of business, but other 
hands now deal in merchandize. 

We would not forget that it was here that Weston, Whit- 
man, Greenleaf, Fessenden, Chandler and Bradbury 
had their homes, two of them being native born, and all emi- 
nent in the legal profession. We shall never forget, unless 
memory proves treacherous and the history of the nation is 
blotted out, that it was here Maine's great Senator, at one 
time the hope and pride of the nation, spent his j'outhful 
days. I need not call his name, you know it well. Some of 
his schoolmates are here to-day. 

The inviting inns of Nelson, Bearce, Thompson and 
Chandler are closed ; their cheery fires have gone out and 
no one is called to re-kindle them, for in the irresistible 
march of events business has in a measure forsaken us and 
turned to other channels ; yet the air is as pure, our hills 
and valleys are as pleasant and fruitful, our store houses are 
as well filled and our homes are as free as in days that have 
gone. 

We glory in the history of the past, and hold in profound 
reverence the memory of our fathers, who with brave hearts 
and strong arms cleared these farms, made these roads, and 
out of a wilderness built up and bequeathed to us the price- 
less inheritance of a noble town. While we glory in the 
past and rejoice in the present, let us hope that they who 
celebrate the second centennial will have nobler triumphs to 
boast and more splendid achievements to rehearse than we 
have to-day. 



HON. P. W. CHANDLER S LETTER. 



65 



The Legal Profession. May their record be as fair in the 
future as it has been in the past. 

In response, the following letter from the Hon. Peleg 
W. Chandler, of Boston, was read ty his nephew, Mr. 
Sumner C. Chandler, of Brookline, Mass : 

White Mountains, 

5th September, 1874. 

To Joseph Cross, A. H. Nevins, A. C. Chandler, 

Committee. 
Gentlemen : 

When I felt obliged, several months ago, to decline your 
flattering invitation to deliver an address at the Centennial 
Celebration of New Gloucester, it was with an intimation 
that I would be present and render such aid as I could at 
the proposed meeting. This is not practicable, but I cannot 
forbear to express my deep sympathy in the feeling which 
calls you together, and to make a note of some points which 
may not be destitute of interest to the present generation. 
On such an occasion, it is becoming for any one who has a 
knowledge of facts relating to the past history of the town, 
to make them known, even though they may seem to 
strangers of trifling importance. What might appear as 
vanity in speaking of distinguished persons with whom one 
was acquainted and of events in which he bore a part, is 
pardonable at such a celebration. Even the garrulousness 
of old age does not fatigue and may be agreeable wlien it 
relates to those who took a part in our early local liistory 
and to transactions of which the eye-witnesses will soon be 
removed by death. 

It is many years since I left New Gloucester, as a resi- 
dence, but I have been familiar with the place and people 



66 



SAMUEL FESSENDEN. 



ever since ; and there are not many whose recollections 
extend back farther than my own. As a boy, I was familiar 
with the persons and knew something of the mental traits 
of many men in the old town who have now passed away. 
Among them were Elisha Mosely, Col. Isaac Parsons, 
Timothy Little, Simon Greenleaf, General Fessenden, 
Wm. Pitt Fessenden, Jabez Woodman, William Brad- 
bury, Col. Joseph E. Foxcroft, Obadiah Whitman, 
Peleg Chandler, Father and Son, and many others, 
whose names will doubtless be recalled by gentlemen who 
may be present. In after years I had the privilege of an 
intimate acquaintance with some of them ; and now at a 
period of life when the judgment is more mature and when 
it is possible to make a calmer estimate of character by 
comparison with other celebrated men, I recur with interest 
and a certain pride to those early citizens of a town some- 
what remote who were greatly distinguished in their day 
and generation, and to others who only lacked the oppor- 
tunity to become men of a national reputation. Allow me 
to mention some of the prominent men in the early history 
of the town with such reminiscences as occur to me at the 
moment. 

Samuel Fessenden was a graduate of Dartmouth Col- 
lege, a classmate of Richard Fletcher and an intimate 
friend of Daniel Webster. He commenced practice in 
New Gloucester, and, as I have often heard, his first great 
success was in soundly thrashing a witness after court was 
over, this witness having had the temerity to assert, during 
a trial, that the lawyer would not dare say out of court 
what his privilege allowed him to say within doors with 
impunity. The advocate overheard the remark, and, at the 
adjournment, on being attacked by the drunken bully, justi- 



SAMUEL FESSENDEN. 67 

fied with his fists the utterances of his tongue. As the 
chastisement was effectual and generally regarded as just, 
the act was eminently popular in the whole region. General 
ITessenden, as I remembel* him, was a man of remarkable 
presence, tall, graceful, courteous, with a smile that was 
winning to all and quite bewitching to the young. He 
was a man of large and comprehensive ability which he 
displayed in a practice of fifty years at the bar. He always 
took great interest in political affairs and held responsible 
positions, but was not successful in one sense because his 
ambition took another direction. He also had a way of 
advocating unpopular theories and always stood by his 
guns whatever might be the danger to himself. It was he, 
who in the war of 1812, made the declaration in the Senate 
of Massachusetts, in the discussion of a proposition to send 
delegates to the Hartford Convention^ that " he was ready to 
take the constitution in one hand and a sword in the other, 
and demand at Washington the constitutional rights of the 
people." In late years he was a most vigorous and uncom- 
promising member of the Free Soil Party. His home was 
long a refuge for fugitive slaves, and his tongue and pen 
were ever ready to defend the rights of those held in bond- 
age. He was also a warm temperance man, and, as usual, 
carried his principles into practice, however disagreeable 
such a course might be to himself. It is not many years 
since he visited his son in Washington and was invited to 
dine with Mr. Webster. At the table, a distinguished 
lady asked him to take wine. He declined, but gracefully 
drank her health in water. After dinner, when the ladies 
had retired, Mr. Webster exclaimed, " Sam, you are the 
bravest man living. No gentleman in Washington would 
dare to decline wine at the invitation of my wife." The 



68 SAMUEL FESSENDEN. 

anecdotes of this remarkable man are numerous and no 
doubt will be largely referred to at your meeting. As he 
and his son, Wm. Pitt, practiced at the same Bar for many 
years, it was of course quite common that they found them- 
selves on opposite sides. It was something worth seeing, 
for as they entertained great mutual respect and exhibited 
the greatest courtesy towards each other, and as they both 
were bound to win if they could, the contest not seldom 
became exciting and even amusing. "You never learned 
such law as that in my office. Sir," the General once ex- 
claimed at some telling point of his son. " Perhaps not," 
was the reply, " for there were some things not taught in 
that office." I once heard Thomas Amory Deblois, Avho 
was for many years Gen. Fessenden's law partner, say 
that Chief Justice Weston, when a young man at the Bar, 
lost his temper at some remark of Gen. Fessenden, and 
sent him a challenge. Unfortunately the messenger was a 
negro. The General replied blandly that he " did not decline 
the challenge, hut did object to Weston's second'"; which in 
those days was a point well taken. 

I should like to refer right here to an anecdote which was 
related to me by General Fessenden himself, as it is a 
marked and affecting instance of the baleful effects of in- 
temperance on the mental and moral faculties. There 
formerly lived in New Gloucester, a man who was distin- 
guished and held high rank in the Revolutionary War. He 
was unfortunately addicted to the excessive use of ardent 
spirits and his faculties were becoming impaired. General 
Fessenden, although a young man, was on intimate terms 
with him, and considered it due to friendship to remonstrate ; 
which he did in a manner as delicate as possible, pointing 
out the inevitable results of such a course and lamenting 



WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN. 69 

the necessity of refemng to the subject at all. Tlie matter 
was taken in a friendly spirit, and the unhappy victim of 
habit remarked with perfect calmness, that no one could 
understand the evil consequences of intemperance better 
than himself ; that he saw plainly the terrible end which 
was before him and lamented it more than his friends pos- 
sibly could. But, he added, it was impossible for Mm to 
change. He could not reform if he would, and, so strong 
was the passion for drink, he would not if he could. Gen- 
eral Fessenden replied, that having done his own duty 
and performed the painful service required by friendship, 
he never should refer to the subject again. It was not 
many months after this, when sitting in his office one sum- 
mer's day, he heard a great outcry, with, shouts for help. 
He rushed out and found some people from a distance 
endeavoring to force his old friend into a carriage. On 
demanding the reason for this extraordinary proceeding, he 
was informed that they had concluded to remove him to 
an insane hospital. The unhappy victim appealed in touch- 
ing tones to Fessenden for protection ; but the latter 
replied that he had once endeavored to avert such a calamity 
in vain. He had done his whole duty and now he could 
not interfere. "Well," exclaimed the unhappy man, "if 
Fessenden will not defend me there is no help ; I will 
resist no longer." He was removed to a hospital, where he 
passed the rest of his life. 

William Pitt Fessenden was not a native of the town, 
but was brought here when an infant. This eminent states- 
man, able lawyer and honest man had a national reputation ; 
it is unnecessary to go into any details here respecting 
his character and history. 



. 70 COL. ISAAC PARSONS. 

" The name that dwells on every tongue, 
No minstrel needs." 

Col. Isaac Parsons was in some respects one of the 
most remarkable men of our town. A native of Cape Ann 
and of a notable family, he early emigrated to Maine, where 
he became a large land owner. He was a Calvinist in 
religion and a Democrat in politics. Nor was he a man 
to hide his light under a bushel. On the contrar}', he 
was decidedly aggressive as a religionist, and remarkably 
firm as a politician. In those days political sentiments and 
religious dogmas were held with such tenacity and entered 
so much into personal relations, that the young emigrant 
was not remarkably popular with his relatives in the old 
Bay State ; and when he went up to Boston as a Dem- 
ocratic member of the Great and General Court, it was 
with a feeling that he would not be well received by 
his own family. There was no occasion for this apprehen- 
sion. The most friendly feelings were manifested, and 
when his distinguished relative, Chief Justice Parsons, 
made his circuit in Maine, he not seldom visited his 
country cousin, sometimes even prevailing with him, as I 
have doubtingly heard, to walk out of a Sunday. Deacon 
Parsons was a man of great sense and sagacity, of con- 
siderable ability and remarkably "set" in his opinions. 
To no man could the line be more truly applied " Homo 
Justus et tenax propositi,'^ (which the "Antiquary" translates 
" a just man but obstinate as a baited bull.") He exerted 
great influence in the new town ; no man was more respect- 
ed, although he was not quite free from the peculiarities of 
his day. He stood by what he regarded as matters of 
principle and faith. 1 have often heard my mother describe 



COL. ISAAC PARSONS. 71 

the Sundays at her father's home with a sort of shudder, 
although she did not regard them witli that feeling. There 
was never a morsel of food cooked, nor the least manual 
labor performed Avhich could possibly be avoided ; even the 
table was spread the night before for the whole day. It 
was Col. Parsons who said, in those days of political ex- 
citement, that " Bonaparte was the Almighty's High Sheriff,'" 
He was literally a patriarch, for I must not fail to mention 
that he had^ve tvives — not, let me hasten to add — all at once, 
but in an ordinary and lawful way, one after another. His 
own children were numerous, and some of his wives had 
children by other- husbands, so that when the Deacon died 
at a good old age, it seemed as though half the county was 
at the funeral. There was no little difficulty in settling 
the points of precedence, and the procession extended from 
the home half way up to the Corner. He was a man of 
forethought, as the arrangement of his wives' graves made 
clear. Two were placed together, then a space was left for 
himself, and then two were placed on the other side. 
Alluding to this in his will, he ordered that his body should 
be placed in the center between the four wives, and " whereas 
their grave-stones were of slate, he directed that his should 
be of marble and a little higher than theirs^ You will find 
the grave stones as.I have described them, in the old grave 
yard. The fifth wife survived her husband. To the good 
sense and practical observation of Col. Parsons the State of 
Maine is greatly indebted. Before he came here no farmer 
to the eastward of Old York, ever raised a bushel of corn to 
sell ; but the people were dependent mainly on the western 
and southern counties for their bread. He found that the 
settlers had not discovered the right way of managing and 
improving new lands. He found by strict examination in 



72 REV. ELISHA MOSELY. 

1762, that land in a natural state, that had a full growth of 
hard wood upon it, if the trees were cut and lay a reasonable 
time, would collect so much nitre as to become light and 
more suitable for the roots of any vegetable to penetrate in 
quest of nourishment, than it could be made by all the arts 
of cultivation, especially when the wood was burnt off, and 
it had the additional benefit of the alkaline salts. He was 
fully convinced that if corn were planted on new land, 
cleared and well burnt over without breaking the surface 
any more than by chopping off the weeds and sprouts, a 
good and ripe crop might be produced, and that the opinion 
that it would not stand without " hilling " was entirely 
erroneous. A knowledge of this method soon spreading 
through the country, it proved a greater encouragement or 
inducement to the settling of the State, than any one thing 
except the withdrawal of the Indians. The statement is 
his own, made in 1824, but is amply corroborated. 

I should be glad to allude to some of the other notable 
men of the town, especially to Master Jabez Woodman, 
that eccentric but eminently honest, simple-hearted and 
scholarly man, who taught so many of the young in the 
higher branches of learning — to Captain Moses Woodman 
and Jeremiah Allen, to Amos Haskell, and many other 
model citizens and princely farmers ; to Elisha Mosely, 
so many years the minister of the parish, whose political 
principles and party sermons were so at variance with the 
notions of his senior deacon,* and whose famous beer was 



* In 1810, the 4tli of July was celebrated in the town by both parties, 
the Federal oration being delivered by General Fessknden. It was on this 
occasion that Parson Mosely gave out the hymn beginning thus : 
"Break out their teeth, Almighty God, 
Those teeth of lions, dyed in blood ! " 



DEXTER BEAPX'E AND COL. FOXCROFT. 73 

80 well known for its curative qualities as to attract many 
invalids to the town. His theology was mild and harmless, 
and he was not fitted for the religious controversies that 
arose towards the end of his life ; but his influence was 
always great, and uniformly exerted for the benefit of the 
people ; to Deacon Nelson, whose manly form and dignified 
bearing will never be forgotten by those who knew him ; 
to Peter Haskell, senior, whose name was the s3'nonym 
of honesty, and whose sons and his sons' sons are to-day 
among the most respected citizens of the town ; to Obediah 
Whitman, brother of the ' famous preacher, Bernard 
Whitman, a man of most genial spirit and great intelligence ; 
to Solomon Hewitt Chandler, probably the wealthiest 
citizen the town ever had, a man of great energy and busi- 
ness ability, of the kindest nature, whose ringing laugh was 
contagious ; to Isaac Parsons, Junior, and Deacon Gross, 
reliable officers of the town ; to Freedom Keith, the skill- 
ful mechanic whose well made furniture is now in most of 
the houses ; to Dexter Bearce, the kind neighbor and 
faithful friend, ever ready to enter into the joj's and sorrows 
of others, who never turned the poor away from his door, 
and whose heart was large enough to welcome suffering 
humanity in whatever guise it ap>peared. In particular, ] 
should be glad to refer at length to that model public ofiicer, 
Col. Joseph E. Foxcroft, whose personal manners so well 
l)ecame the important office he held for many years. You 
know of course, that his father was one of the first ministers 
of the town. He was a graduate of Harvard College and 
a son of the minister of the First Church in Boston 
(Chauncy street). The Parish and Church in New Glou- 
cester always had a strong influence in the Congregational 
denomination, and probably more young men in the past 
6 



74 DR. TIMOTHY LITTLE AND PELEG CnANDLER. 

generation of that Parish were liberally educated than of 
any other of the same size in the State. Is it not probable 
that the early influence of a well educated man has been 
always felt in this direction ; that he gave a tone to the 
public sentiment and a refinement to the j)eople which 
were the direct result of his own learning and culture? 

Nor must I fail to allude to Dr. Timothy Little, the 
physician and surgeon, whose great reputation drcAv him to 
a wider sphere of action. For many years before he left, 
he had large numbers of medical students and Avas univer- 
sally held in great respect by all. Some of his students 
were wild young fellows. There were strange stories of 
midnight raids upon distant grave yards. Whether true or 
not will probably never be known ; but certainly those 
incipient doctors sometimes came home very early in the 
morning with tired horses and attended by mysterious cir- 
cumstances. There was alwaj's an air of simplicity about 
the old Doctor, well calculated to drown suspicion, although 
it is certain that there were a good many bones round his 
house and stable. His students once set up the skeleton of 
a cow at the head of the back stairs, which was left there 
when the family removed to Portland. I remember to have 
heard at the time, that the wife of the new tenant, going up 
stairs for the first time, fainted away at the unexpected sight. 

I shall be pardoned for more than a mere allusion to 
Peleg Chandler, Father and Son. The former was the 
son of Peleg Chandler, of Duxbury, and his father bore 
the same name. One of the earliest settlers of New Glou- 
cester, he owned, lived and died upon the farm at the 
Corner. The family now have ^the old sign of the Bell 
Tavern in 1776, which he kept. He was an honest citizen, 
a blacksmith by trade, and a good one. He had the voice of 



PELEG CHANDLER, JR., AND EZEKIEL WHITMAN. 75 

a Stentor. It is related that he would, at his back door, 
call his men to dinner on the intervale, although the state- 
ment requires some verification to be accepted as literally 
true. His youngest son, Peleg, graduated at Brown 
University in 1795. lie was a classmate and chum of Chief 
Justice Whitman. The celebrated William Baylies, of 
Taunton, was in the same class. He was iittted to enter a 
year in advance. Well mounted on a gray horse, with a 
little money and saddle bags containing his whole wardrobe, 
the young student wended his way to the distant State of 
Rhode Island. When approaching the village of Titticut, in 
Bridgwater, on a warm day in August 1792, he saw a youth 
reclining under a tree by the wayside. They entered into 
conversation, when it appeared that the young man was a 
member of the same class which Chandler proposed to 
enter. So much were they pleased with each other, that they 
agreed to room together. This was the beginning of a 
friendship which lasted through life. And it was by Peleg 
Chandler's influence, that his friend, Ezekiel Whitman, 
who was a native of Bridgwater, commenced his pro- 
fessional life in New Gloucester, and began that career 
which was so marked and even brilliant, for he became the 
Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and of the 
Supreme Court, and a member of Congress from the most 
important District in ]\Iaine. Young Chandler made his 
way through College and returned home to meet a life of 
disappointments. His mother, (Sarah Maria Winslow) 
being strongly opposed on principle to the legal profession, 
her son reluctantly took charge of the paternal acres ; acted 
as Justice of the Peace and in various positions of trust, 
until at length, wlien his parents were very old and near their 
end, and after the birth of the youngest of ten children, he 



76 PELEG CHANDLER, JR. 

commenced the practice of the profession which he had 
chosen when a young man. Coming upon the stage at so 
late a day and under circumstances so adverse, he could not 
of course expect to take the highest position. But he was 
a man of marked ability, of great wit and humor, fairly read 
in the law, and an advocate of more than average 
success. In 1819, before the separation of Maine from 
Massachusetts, he was appointed a Judge of the Court of 
Sessions, holding the office for several years after Maine 
became a State, and until his removal to Bangor. He con- 
tinued in the profes'sion until his death in 1848, at the age 
of 74. He was buried in the old graveyard in New Glou- 
cester, and by his side there was placed years afterward all 
that was mortal of his beloved wife, Esther Parsons, a 
woman of a character so fine, that no partiality of relation- 
ship can do it more than justice. She had much of her 
father's firmness and independence, with all his strength of 
religious faith, but united with a character so simple and 
a disposition so retiring and truly feminine, as to inspire in 
all who knew her a respect which was very great and a 
love which was very strong. 

It is time that I should bring this letter to a conclusion. 
I have not attempted to indulge in moral reflections or 
flights of fancy or sentimental remarks on the interesting 
occasion which calls the citizens of the old town together. 
The humble task has appeared to me the better course, 
namely, to refer to facts and events which may not be 
known to many of the present generation. Some of them 
may seem trivial, but everything which helps to illustrate 
the history of the past is of some importance. 

The town of New Gloucester compares most favorably, in 
some respects, with the rest of the county ; its local position 



A BEAUTIFUL TOWN. 77 

is surpassingly beautiful. I have been in many parts of our 
own country and in some foreign lands, but I have often 
thought that there are views in your town which, for quiet 
beauty and a certain charm of contrasted scenery, are equal 
to anything to be found. It was formerly half-shire town 
and a place of considerable business importance. It has 
always exerted a strong and healthful influence. There 
never was an academy or a public high school in the place, 
but the common schools were good, and there were always 
excellent means of acquiring knowledge in private schools 
and by individual instruction. There is no place where 
the people have been in general more intelligent and 
respectable. It occurs to me, as I am writing this, that 
almost every teacher who lived in my days of going to 
school has passed away. There is certainly one exception 
in the case of the mother of your Orator of the day, who 
was for years a most successful instructor. I have the im- 
pression that she regarded the writer of this as almost 
incorrigible in point of idleness and indifference ; but she 
was patient and persevering, and it is a great pleasure for 
me, now and here, to record my thanks for her efforts to 
make something out of a dull bo}', who appreciated her 
trials long after she had probably forgotten them. 
I am, gentlemen, with great respect, 
Your obedient servant, 

PELEG W. CHANDLER. 



'» RESPONSE BY HON. W. W. THOMAS. 

The Hon. William Widgery. ■ 

Response by Hon. William Widgery Thomas, of 
Portland. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

As I sat here to-day and listened to the stoiy of the men 
who were born here, these texts have occurred to me : 
" Walk about Zion and go round about her. Mark ye well 
her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to 
the generation following, and of Zion it shall be said this 
and that man were born in her." My mother, nearly a 
hundred years ago, was born on yonder hill, and I rejoice 
that I may claim for her so good a birth-place. You should 
rejoice that you may claim it as your heritage, and that 
your lines have fallen to you in such pleasant places. New 
Gloucester has much to be proud of, in the beauty of her 
scenery, her agricultural resources, and the industry and 
high moral character of her population. Much has been 
said about the pioneers of New Gloucester, their energy, 
their courage, their virtues and their hardships. 

The name of William Widgery, one of these pioneers, 
is the sentiment which has now been given. 

William Widgery was my grandfather ; he came to 
New Gloucester before the Revolution. During the Revo- 
lutionary War he was a Lieutenant of a privateer com- 
manded by Nathaniel Thompson, in which capacity he 
displayed the same resolute courage that characterized his 
after life. He came here poor, with a limited education, 
but with persistency of character and the determination to 
succeed. New Gloucester honored him with many official 
positions, and he honored New Gloucester in these positions. 



WILLIAM WIDGERY. 79 

111 1787, he was chosen Representative from New Gloucester 
to the General Court of Massachusetts, and held the office 
by repeated elections for nine years. In 1788, he was 
elected delegate to the Convention of Massachusetts, which 
adopted the Constitution of the United States. In 1794, 
he was Senator from Cumberland County to the General 
Court of Massachusetts. In 1791, being a member of the 
Massachusetts Legislature, he procured a term of the Court 
of Common Pleas to be held in New Gloucester, in January 
of each year, wliich continued until 1805. 

In 1810, after his removal to Portland, he was chosen 
Representative to the 12th Congress. New England, as is 
well known, was deadly opposed to the Avar of 1812, and 
Mr. WiDGERY was one of the few members of Congress 
from the New England States who cast his vote for that 
most righteous war. This vote, given from a deep convic- 
tion of duty and in direct opposition to Mr. Widgery's 
own interest, made him the object of popular indignation, 
which was visited upon him on his return to Portland, in the 
most insulting manner. At Boston he visited one of the 
insurance offices on State street, and crowds gathered about 
him, cursing him and reviling him for his vote. At Newbnry- 
port, a mob gathered about the old stage house where he 
passed the night, hooting and yelling, and calling on " Old 
WiDGERY"to show himself. Mr. Widgery stepped out 
on the platform of the tavern and demanded what they 
wanted ; told them he was there to defend himself, and that 
the first man Avho laid a finger on him did it at the peril of 
his life. The residence of Mr. Widgery on Exchange 
street, in Portland, was surrounded night after night by a 
mob that made night hideous, with beating of drums, blow- 
ing of horns, yellings and imprecations. Mr. Widgery 



80 WILLIAM WIDGEKT. 

was at last compelled to remove his family to a place "bf 
quiet and safety, but he stood at his post, occupied his 
house, and "though the mob cursed and swore, no one dared 
to offer personal violence to the brave old man. 

Some years since a gentleman then located at the West, 
in reviewing the course of Mr. Widgery in Congress, and 
his vote for the war with England in 1812, said, "In 
Congress William Widgery was a moral hero, proving 
himself a man of more moral firmness and more unbending 
integrity and self-sacrificing patriotism, by taking on him- 
self the unenviable position and dangerous responsibility of 
voting against the express will of his constituency for a 
hazardous and unequal war, with the larger part of his 
wealth (his shipping) uninsured on the ocean to come in 
and rot at the wharves, while his town property, but just 
recovering from the desolation of the embargo (worse for 
the infant seaport than a war), must again become unpro- 
ductive and furnish but a precarious resource for his declin- 
ing years, and then buffeting the storm of popular indigna- 
tion which he did." 

In my journeying I have met and conversed about Mr. 
Widgery with Messrs. Taltafero of Virginia, Poindex- 
TER of Mississippi, Cass of Michigan, and Pope of Kentucky, 
and many other men who were active participators in the 
scenes and "times that tried men's souls," and all with one 
accord bestow on his memory the meed of their unqualified 
admiration for his political Holocaust, on the altar of his 
country's lionor. 

Mr. Widgery practiced law many years in New Glou- 
cester ; in 1812 was appointed associate Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas, which office he held until the Court was 
abolished in 1822. Mr. Widgery was a man of great 



WILLIAM WIDGERY. 



81 



courage and firmness. He frequently commanded his own 
vessels. On one occasion, when off the coast of North 
Carolina, his ship was thrown on her beam ends. The crew, 
fearing the loss of the vessel and the loss of their lives, were 
determined to leave her, and launched the boat and put 
their dunnage into it, but before they could get in them- 
selves Capt. WiDGERY cut the painter, set the boat adrift 
and said, " Now boys, there is no escape for us but on 
board this vessel ; we will sink or swim together," and they 
brought their vessel into port. On one occasion, in com- 
mand of one of his own vessels, by his superior sagacity and 
shrewdness, and by pleading his own cause before an 
English Admiralty Court, he saved her from the fangs of 
the British Orders in Council. On another occasion, at the 
time of the downfall of the great Napoleon, Capt. Widgery 
was in a port of France, in command of a swift vessel. 
There he was sought out by Marshal Ney, then fleeing for 
his life from the allies, who besought the Captain to take 
him on board and carry him to America. Capt. Widgery, 
however, had already chartered his sliip, and Avas compelled 
to stand by his charter party, which rendered it impossible 
to receive the Marshal on board. 

Judge Widgery was a man of commanding and fuie per- 
sonal appearance, six feet or more in height, well propor- 
tioned, with a countenance expressive "of dignity and intelli- 
gence. "Few men have seen more of this great world than 
Judge Widgery, or figured in a greater variety of scenes.'" 
He died in 1822, at the age of 69. 

Mr. President, I am happy that I am a descendant of one 
of the pioneers of New Gloucester ; happy to join in this 
Centennial Celebration; and may the places of these pion- 
eers, whose deeds of self-denial and usefulness we have not 



82 LETTER OF HON. S. C. FESSENDEN. 

forgotten this day to recount, be filled by those who shall 
emulate their noble example. 

The following letter from the Hon. Samuel C. Fes- 
SENDEN, of Stamford, Conn., a native of New Glouces- 
ter, jvas then read : 

Stamford, Conn., 4th Sept., 1874. 

Committee of Arrangements for the Centennial Anniversary of 
Nexo Gloucester^ Me. 

Gentlemen : 

It was my intention to be present and participate in the inter- 
esting exercises of the occasion, but the unexpected arrival of a 
friend from the other continent, who can remain with me for a 
few days only, will not admit of my leaving home just now. 

This is my reason for a disappointment wliich, however great 
it may be to my friends wliom I hoped to meet, is more regretted 
by me than it can be by tliem. 

As expressive of my feelings (and therefore you may regard it 
s my personal greeting to the assemblage of the day), this is 
what I would say, and to its truthfulness all will attest. 

The Sons and Daughters of New Gloucester : They have 
been true to the principles of their fathers who gave to the 
town during the first half century of its existence, an influence 
for good in State, and church, not second to that of any other 
town in the State, and the power of which has been, and will be 
felt at home and abroad in succeeding years; it is with just pride 
that their memory is cherished by their descendants. 
I am yours respectfully, 

SAM'L C. FESSENDEN. 



RESPONSE BY HON. G. W. WOODMAN. 83 

The Past axd Pkesext. 

Response by Hon. George W. Woodman, of Port- 
land. 

Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is a pleasure to me to be here to-day, and to participate 
in this Centennial Celebration of my native town. It brings 
fresh to my mind many incidents of the past, and affords 
me an opportunity to interchange sentiments with many 
early and true friends. I hardh'- know what I can say to 
interest you, and the friends present, after having listened 
to the elaborate historical address from the Orator of the 
day. He seems to have covered about all of the ground. 

But, sir, as you have seen fit to call upon me, I feel to 
respond with a few remarks, such as may flow into my mind. 
We have met here to-day to celebrate the one-hundredth 
anniversary of this good old town. When we look forward 
one hundred years, it seems to be a long time ; but when 
we look back and survey the past, it seems as it were but a 
day. 

Sir, in reviewing the past, we notice the great changes 
that are constantly taking place around us, and with what 
rapidity we are making history. The progress and improve- 
ments we are making as a people, in the arts and sciences, 
in every direction, not only in the cultivation of the soil, in 
the breeding of animals, but in the culture of the human 
mind itself. Culture — yes, culture ; that's the word. When 
we speak of cultivating tiie human mind, that we may grow 
wiser and better, — of rearing our children and moulding 
them into manhood and womanhood, when we point in this 



84 RESPONSE BY HON. G. W. WOODMAN. 

direction there is no end to its influence ; it encircles the 
world. 

Sir, what a contrast there is in the picture that is pre- 
sented here to-day, with that presented here one hundred 
years ago. Then all around us was a vast wilderness, with 
a sparse population, only here and there a settler, surrounded 
by the Indians, with the old block house on this very spot, 
as a place of refuge for our early settlers. 

To-day, Mr. Presidents, we have before us this large audi- 
ence, these fair ladies and true men, the very type of civili- 
zation and progress, these beautiful hills and valleys around 
us, a panorama of nature that the artist cannot paint. Our 
Orator told us that the early settlers suffered very much from 
the Indians. It was either real or imaginary. I have some- 
times thought that imaginary or borrowed trouble was 
really as hard to bear as the real thing itself. I have no 
doubt but that much of the suffering by our people in those 
days caused b}^ the Indians, was through fear, and if you 
will allow me, I will refer to an incident that took place in 
those days, in proof of my position in this matter. It may 
be n§w to some of you, but probably not to all. 

There were two gentlemen traveling together on the low 
lands near the river, between here and where my father 
lived, Mr. Jabez True and Mr. Ebenezer Lane. Mr. 
True was sure that he heard the Indians approaching them. 
He said to Mr. Lane that he could hear them say " Mr. 
Jabez True, lam as hig a man as you — yon — you. Then Mr. 
Lane was sure that he could hear them say " Mr. Eben- 
EZER Lane, I will stab you with my tomahawk and club you 
with my cane — cane — cane.'''' Now these gentlemen were 
sure that they heard the Indians, but it turned out to be 
nothing more than Bull Frogs in the river. And my idea is, 



EESrOXSE BY HON. G. W. WOODMAN. 85 

that much of the trouble that comes to us in this life is 
imaginary, and when sifted, will turn out to he nothing more 
than Bull Frogs, as in this case. 

Sir, our early settlers labored under great disadvantages 
as compared with the present time. Everything then was 
in a crude state. Their farming utensils were of a low order — 
the old stub scythe, sickle, flail, spinning wheel and the 
hand loom. Sometimes they went to mill on horse back, 
with a busliel of corn in one end of the bag and and a stone 
in the other end to balance the grist. The stride in prog- 
ress shows us to-day the mowing machine, the horse rake, 
the pitching machine, the reaper and the threshing machine. 
We go to mill with the iron liorse, and we have factories of 
every description, with their thousands and tens of thousands 
of spindles and looms propelled by water and steam, all over 
the country. 

Sir, perhaps New Gloucester has not made so much progress 
in certain directions as some other towns. In manufacturing, 
for instance, she has not been so well situated, but for 
agriculture and horticulture, if rightly managed, she is one 
of the best. She can grow anything you have a mind to ask 
of her, and you will pardon me, Mr. President, if I say she 
has grown men and women, and some of the best judicial 
and mercantile brains in the State. And when I refer to 
her as an agricultural town, 3fr. President, 3'ou must remem- 
ber that agriculture lies at the very foundation of all our 
prosperity in this country. It gives the lights and shades 
to the picture ; strike it out and your likeness is gone. And, 
Sir, as soon as this is fairly understood, it will make no 
difference as to what a man's business is, what liis ability 
or his proficiencies, for he will be proud to say that he is a 
producer — that he is an agriculturalist, either directly or 



86 RESPONSE BY nON. G. W. WOODMAN. 

indirectly ; and then, Sir, those engaged in the business will 
have attained their true position, and great progress will be 
made, and their influence will be felt throughout the land. 

Mr. President., I have referred to culture, and if you will 
allow me, I will give you simply one illustration in order to 
show what can be done in that direction. It may strike 
some of you as a new idea, — as rather novel. Suppose we 
take two infants of equal capacity by birth, one from one of 
the best families in New England, and the other from one 
of the best families in Ireland, and we will suppose these 
two babes to be exchanged in their infancy ; the Irish child 
to be brought up iinder the influence and culture of the 
New England famil}^ while the American child is brought 
up under the influence and culture of the Irish family; and 
at twentj^-one years of age, you will find that the Irish boy 
will speak our language as well as any of us, no one sus- 
pecting him of being an Irishman, while the New England 
boy will speak the Irish language with the brogue, and will 
pass for an Irishman. Sir, why is this? I will leave it for 
the audience to decide. 

Sir, not man}' years since, there was but one stage-coach 
per week running between the city of Portland and the 
city of Boston, and when a party came forward and con- 
tracted to run two coaches a week between the two cities, 
he was considered a fool by some, for the undertaking, as it 
seemed to be impracticable at that time. We now have two 
railroads through from city to city, with ten passenger 
trains a day each way, making twenty trains daily, besides 
two lines of steamers. 

Again, look at the mode of correspondence. It is com- 
paratively but a few years since the business men of our 
city would correspond with the merchants of New York 



RESPONSE BY HON. G. W. WOODMAN. «< 

and other cities, and would not get a reply, perhaps, for four 
or live weeks. "We now speak from city to city, from State 
to State and from nation to nation through the magnetic 
telegraph, that wonder of the age, which, with its electric 
fire, is made to speak the very thoughts of men, and with its 
iron bands stretched from continent to continent, Innding 
them together, as it were, and blending them into one. 

It was supposed by many that when the Atlantic cable 
was first laid, it would not be a success — that it would 
soon be chafed off by the rocks below, or something else 
would Iiappen to it, and then it would be next to impossible 
to repair it, and of course it would be a failure. But, Sir, 
what do the scientific men, the electricians of to-day, tell us 
about this matter ? They tell us that if the cable breaks or 
anything happens to it, that they can measure the distance 
to it from either shore and tell us just what the fault is, 
whether it is one hundred miles, one thousand miles or ten 
tliousand miles at sea ; that it makes no difference ; that they 
are sure to find it. To an unscientific mind it would 
seem impossible that sucli a fact as this could be accom- 
plished. Yet, to the one who knows, it is perfectly feasible 
and can be done. This to me is more wonderful than the 
telegraph itself, and from whatever standpoint we look, we 
see this same onward movement, this same spirit of progress. 

Mr. President, in conclusion let me sa}^ I hope and trust 
that New Gloucester will continue to progress and improve, 
and in each returning anniversary of her l)irtli, she will be 
found on her true position, that her people will not only 
cultivate the soil, but the mind ; not oidy produce the 
cereals and the like, but continue to grow men and 
women that will honor her as heretofore. An a])le writer 
once used these words, "Wc out-grow our homes." Tliis 



88 LETTER OF IIOX. T. P. CHANDLER. 

may be true in a certain sense, but, Sir, this town has many 
attachments that bind me to her, that have long since been 
photographed upon the tablet of the mind, and will continue 
as long as memory shall last. 

Sir, this was the home of my grand-parents on both sides, 
the birthplace of my Father and Mother, also the Father of 
Mrs. Woodman. It was here that I spent twenty-three 
years of my early life, and many of them were some of my 
happiest years. I have man}^ times thought that I should 
like to return and spend the rest of my days here ; and 
whenever I visit the town, I am alwaj^s reminded of these 
words, '■'• Home^ sweet home, there is no place like home."" 

The following letter from the Hon. Theophilus P. 
Chandler, of Brookline, Mass., was read. 

Brookline, Mass., Sept. 3, 1874. 
JoREPn Cuoss, Esq. 

My Dear Sir : — The circuhir invitation to your Centennial 
Celebration came duly to hand, and I regret my inability to be 
present. 

I Avas born in New Gloucester, in 1807, and lived there just 
twenty years. 

In all my travels I liave seen few toAvns more beautiful, or 
more healthful, and have met with no people of a higher moral 
tone. But few of my old associates are left, and to them give 
my cordial regards. 

Truly yours, 

T. P. CHANDLER. 



KESPONSE BY OSGOOD BRADBURY, ESQ. 89 

Ouii VexepwAule Fathers. Mny their latter days be as 
peaceful and hajipy as their earlier were industrious and useful. 

Response by Osgood Bradbury, Esq., of Portland, 
a former citizen of New Gloucester. 

Men and Women of the j^ast and present generation : 

Strange as it may seem to the young men and maidens 
present on this interesting occasion, I do not feel as if I had 
lived in this breathing world more than three-quarters of 
the time since this good old town .was incorporated one 
hundred years ago, and yet the town records show the 
stubborn fact. I take it for granted that the younger por- 
tion of this audience look upon me as an old man^ but Avhile 
watching the progress of events, hearing the hard breathing 
of the iron horse, the rumbling of the cars, the tell-tale 
ticking of the telegraph, and forgetting the numerous mile- 
stones which I have passed on my journey of life, I feel as 
if I had just commenced to live. 

While standing here under this spacious tent, and on 
ground ever to be remembered, where our forefathers as- 
sembled in the Blockhouse so well described by the Orator 
of the day, and calling up in memory the Old Church that 
once stood on the hallowed spot where the new one now 
stands, erected by the zeal and enterprise of our Fathers ; 
and especially while remembering the high old-fashioned 
pulpit and the jolly good old fat parson that stood in it, 
with the sounding-board over his head, and the big bible 
before him on the cushion which our good grandmothers 
liad made to adorn the sacred desk and make the good book 
rest easy ; and while I so well remember closing his eyes on 
the night of his death, assisted by Deacon Marsh, who dug 
7 



90 CHANGES IN FASHION. 

SO many graves in yonder cemetery, and conducted so many 
funerals of those near and dear to us all ; and again, while 
looking over this audience, and seeing countenances famil- 
iar to me many, many years ago, thinking of the hundreds 
of men, women and children who were wont to listen in the 
Old Church to the venerable Foxceoft and the good-natured 
MoSELY, but whose bodies now rest in yonder city of the 
dead, I feel — 1 know — that those who call me an old man 
are not far out of the way. 

Once more: when I look at the dresses now worn by 
daughters and their mothers too, even in this audience, and 
compare the furbelows, flounces, plaits and endless trim- 
mings, almost all of foreign manufacture, with the plain 
gowns of the past generation, spun and woven by the wearers 
themselves, dressed in the old fulling mill on Royal's River 
and dyed a London smoke or brown, I am forcibly im- 
pressed with the belief that I have lived long enough to 
witness many and foolish changes in the fashionable world. 
Yes, I must be quite old in spite of all my youthful emotions. 
What chambers now resound with the music of the old 
spinning wheel which were wont to be turned by fair hands? 
Ah! well do I remember such '•'• chamber music''^ made by 
the fair daughters, and the buzz of the linen Avheel turned 
by the feet of their good mothers ; and how industriously 
the girls would spin and weave to get the cloth early to the 
fulling mill, so they might have new dresses to wear to 
school, and how neat and tidy they looked in their home- 
made London browns ; no flounces or furbelows disfigured 
their well pressed and shining surface, and no false bundles 
upon their backs to destroy the symmetry of their forms. 
Such dresses proved the truth of the saying that " Beauty 
unadorned is adorned the most," and so it is and alwavs 



THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE. 91 

will be. Nature does her work perfectly, and the less we 
try to improve it the better for us. All the dress-makers 
in Paris, Berlin or the world can't improve a beauteous 
form, but they have the power and skill to make it look 
ugly, and that is now done with a high hand. We live in 
an extravagant age, and how long foolish and hurtful fash- 
ions will continue to disfigure the form and try the depths 
of the parental purse is a problem not yet solved. 

Let me allude to the temperance cause which has taken 
fast hold upon the inhabitants of this ancient and honorable 
town ; it was not so in years gone by. I can well remember 
when I was a boy in a store at the Upper Village, and saw 
how the master of the establishment prepared the New 
England rum before it was dealt out to customers at fifty 
cents per gallon, or three cents per glass. After a cart 
would be driven to the store laden with iron bound white 
oak hogsheads of the liquid fire, they were rolled in, but 
before they were tapped the master would appear with a 
small proof glass with a string tied round its neck. Down he 
would plunge it through the bung-hole into the choice 
beverage, draw it up, shake it, examine the head closely, 
and then say, " Osgood, this will bear more water." My 
duty was to go to the pump and bring in the water, which 
was mingled with the rum and reduced it to a certain proof 
ascertained by another plunge of the glass and another look 
at the bead. These hogsheads of rum were invariably thus 
treated before they were placed on tap. When I look back 
upon those days I am astonished at the amount of intoxicat- 
ing liquor which was then sold in this single store, by the 
gallon and the glass, and yet the Anti-Maine Law people 
say there is as much rum drank now as ever. It is not so 



^2 THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE. 

by a long shot ; where there is one gallon drank now there 
were hogsheads drank then. In the haying season oceans 
of it were guzzled down, no buildings could be raised with- 
out it, and alas ! at funerals decanters and tumblers were 
placed upon tables in the room adjoining that in which the 
mourners sat ; all who wished to imbibe helped them- 
selves; a majority were thus inclined, and the decanters 
run low before all left the house of mourning. Oh ! sor- 
rowful days ! How many bright, active, enterprising men 
of this town yielded up their lives to this fell destroyer, and 
yet funerals were not conducted without the presence and 
use of this liquid damnation. O ! how few in those sad 
days clearly saw the untold miseries of intemperance ! and 
how could they when their opinions took their hues from 
their stomachs. I was once riding with a son of a physician 
in this State — he then resided in Taunton, Mass. He was 
a talkative young man, and introduced the subject of tem- 
perance ; he remarked that it was a good and glorious cause, 
but thought the people of Taunton were driving it a little 
too hard. I told him I anticipated his opinion as soon as he 
broached the subject. " How so," he inquired, expressing 
some surprise at my intuitive knowledge. '■'■Because I smelt 
your breath^'''' I replied very deliberately. He dropped the 
subject. So it is the world over ; our stomachs do influence 
our opinions, and hence we must be careful what we eat 
and drink. 

I will close with a few lines from a poet : 

"O loving friend ! if, when 'tis life's summer, 
Earth's griefs have made you old. 
Look Avhere past years, forever in safe-keeping 
Their garnered harvests hold. 



RESPONSE BY REV. JOHN F. MORGAN. 93 

For, if one sweet woi'd has been remembered 

Through long, slow years of pain, 
The saddest soul can never say in sorrow 

That it has lived in vain." 

The ClerCxY. We acknowledge their efforts for the advance- 
ment of moral, religious and intellectual culture. 

Response by Rev. John F. Morgan, of Kansas, a 
native of New Gloucester : 

Mr. Chairman^ Ladies and Gentlemen and Fellow Citizens : 

Among the primary objects, and I may say one of the 
leading objects, held in view by all these early settlers of 
the towns of New England, was that they might worship 
God according to the dictates of their own conscience. 
Sometimes we of the present generation are led to criticize 
somewhat the austere manner of our Puritan Fathers, but I 
stand here to-day, however, to offer no apology for the 
seeming austere spirit that was manifested in the early days 
of my native town, in reference to the diffusion of the gospel 
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

I look back with joy and gratitude to-day and remember 
the influences as far back as my memory goes, that the 
gospel has had on me. It has been said repeatedly by elo- 
quent speakers who have preceded me, that among the 
products of this town we have given to the world noble 
men and women. That is true ; and one of these inlUiences, 
yes, the most potent influence of all that has tended to pro- 
duce these noble men and women, has been the influence of 
the gospel. 

As I have been sitting here and listening to these varied 
exercises, and the remarks that have been made before me, 



94 RESPONSE BY REV. JOHN F. MORGAN. 

I thought how much we have to be thankful for, and how 
much reason we have to give thanks to God for his great 
goodness to us. I think that is the main and primary influ- 
ence which has given us the blessings and enjoyments which 
we have here to-day. A short time since, I returned from 
my place of labor in Kansas, and since that time I have 
been at my Father's house talking over the scenes and inci- 
dents of the past. My Father has told me of things that 
transpired in my native town in connection with the gospel 
influences, and I have been more interested than ever before, 
as he has told me how, Sabbath after Sabbath, they were 
gathered together in the sanctuary of God without any fire 
to keep them warm save the warming influence of Jesus 
Christ, and of their hearts. 

We have heard how those who came here to engage in 
the settlement of this town provided for the sustaining of 
the ministry. I thank God to-day, and I think we all have 
reason to thank God, that they thought so much at that 
early day of preaching God's word. I sometimes feel they 
were too severe ; and we have heard time and time again 
that they chose forty tything-men, in order that they might 
make men, women and children sit straight during the 
Sabbath, without a smile on their faces. They were so de- 
termined that every child, every man' and every woman, 
should be impressed with the influences of the gospel, that 
they used, perhaps, rather rash means, and rather severe 
methods ; but I cannot help thanking God that we have 
been raised up under those same stern and austere influences. 

I have been among those in the South and West who 
were raised under different influences, and when I have 
seen their recklessness, how little care or thought they had 
for the keeping of the Sabbath Day, or how little care they 



I 



RESPONSE BY REV. JOHN F. MORGAN. 9^ 

had for promoting moral reform, I have been glad that I 
had a Christian Father and a Christian Mother to implant 
these principles in my breast in early childhood, who gave 
me the opportunity to sit. Sabbath after Sabbath, under the 
preaching of the Holy Word of God. 

In this town we have been favored for the last century 
with a ministry whose names I need not repeat, who have 
esteemed it a joy and a privilege to preach the gospel of 
Jesus Christ to the people. 

Sometimes it is said that this town and other towns are 
diminishing in numbers, and perhaps it causes some to be 
discouraged when they are forsaken by the children and 
youth. Let me say to those Fathers and Mothers to-day, 
the influence of those who have taught the gospel is being 
felt not only here among these rugged hills of New England, 
but even to the Pacific coast. We find these principles are 
being carried by the young men, by the women and by those 
who have adopted as their profession the ministry of the 
gospel, as far as this country extends — yea, beyond the sea 
this influence has gone, and is to-day a permeating influence 
in all the institutions of this country, which are for the 
reformation and amelioration of the humankind. I don't 
stand here to-day to offer any apology for the stern manner 
in which our ancestors have trained us. I thank God for 
it. I feel there is a danger, in adopting new methods and 
those which are more congenial, that we shall forsake the 
true spirit of the gospel. 

Let me say in conclusion, that while we rejoice in the 
fact that we have made progress in adopting better methods 
for propagating the gospel, let us beware that we do not 
depart in so doing from the spirit and teachings of those 
who have gone before us. Let us beware that we do not 



96 RESPONSE BY J. H. WOODMAN, A. M. 

let down the standard of our piety too low, so that this 
reverence which we hold dear shall not be forgotten. Let 
us see to it, that we, in receiving and enjoying as we do, the 
inheritance our fathers so bountifully left us, hand down 
the same influence to our children and to the generation 
that shall be raised up after we have departed from the 
stage of action, so that they may rejoice and thank God that 
we worked and taught them the pure gospel of Christ. 

The first Town Meeting. 

Response by Jabez H. Woodman, A. M., of New 
Gloucester, a friend and room mate in college of the 
late Hon. John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts. 

In seventeen hundred seventy-four, 

On the seventh of September, 
Our ancestors in council met ; 

Their votes we well remember. 

And first in order, Simon Notes 

Was chosen Moderator ; 
Who knows but he presided well 

As any legislator ? 

Capt. Nathaniel Evelbth, 

For Town Clerk was selected ; 
No better choice from all the town 

Could sure have been expected. 

For two and forty years he served, 

Deserving special honor ; 
And tJiis he had by vote of thanks, 

Quite near New Glo'ster Corner. 



THE FIRST TOWN MEETING. . ^^ 

Selectmen and Assessors now, 

Squire Simon Noyes is Chairman, 
Moses and Samuel Merrill next, 

And each no doubt a fair man. 

Col. Isaac Parsons, Treasurer^ 

Was a man of a stern look, sir, 
I've seen him once ; I know 'tis so, 

And have it not from book, sir. 

For Town Collector, "Woodman John, 

(A kind of vara avis) 
Was pitched upon, but Avouldn't accept ; 

So wiiirx IN Ai?EL Davis. 

Next come the Wardens, who preseiwe 

Silence j)rofound on Sunday, 
In that Big Church whose belfry high, 

Made us quite dizzy one day. 

JosiAn Smith and Peleg Chandler 

Were Wardens then appointed, 
To flourish poles on Sabbath Day, 

And thus keep things well jointed. 

Be it known to Merrills everywhere, 
Whether they in earth or moon are : 

New Glo'ster's ty thing-man the first 
Was Moses Merrill, Junior. 

Three Road Surveyors greet our vision ; 

And first is Jacob Haskell ; 
Then Wm. Harris, Abel Davis, 

But "nary one" a rascal. 



«o , WILLIAM WIDGERY. 

And who 's the sealer of weights and measures ? 

'Tis Deacon Daniel Merrill, 
Adjusting every scale in town. 

And bushel, peck and barrel. 

Does vane upon the steeple rod 

Point out the wind and weather ? 

And didn't Sam'l Parsons point 
The way of sealing leather? 

Sir Robert Bailey, o'er the hill 

' Bout two miles from the river, 
Did serve, that year, most faithfully 

A loyal, good field driver. 

Jeremiah Thoits and Payne Ell well 
Were " hog reeves " duly chosen ; 

They took the oath, and drove the swine, 
I guess now, by the dozen ! 

The precious names here brought to view, 

To History's page belonging. 
Are mentioned Avith unfeigned respect, 

With no intent of wronging. 

Peace to their ashes — every one ! 

May their descendants flourish, 
And children's children call them blest. 

As long as earth shall nourish. 

Mr. Woodman added : 

I wish to speak a moment in relation to William Widq- 
ERY. Mr. Thomas, of Portland, has given us a brief but 
interesting biographical sketch of his ancestor, and if I mis- 
take not, his statements have been very opportune, unless 



LETTER OF B. II. CORLISS, ESQ. 99 

others have been more successful than myself in finding out 
the history of Mr. Widgery. 

In looking over not long since some old town papers, 
my attention was specially directed to some beautiful speci- 
mens of Mr. Widgery's handwriting, resembling in some 
respects at least the bold signature of John Hancock, 
and I was determined if possible to learn more respecting 
the man. I knew he had in several instances represented 
this town in the General Court of Massachusetts, but of his 
origin and history I knew but little. I immediately called 
upon our worthy fellow citizen, Thomas Johnson, Esq., 
who had been well acquainted with Mr. Widgery. Mr. 
Johnson said : " Mr. Widgery was a fine, noble man, 
but of his early history I have never been able to ascertain 
much. On one occasion, however, Widgery did say, 
' The first thing he could recollect about himself was, that 
he was wheeling a wheel-barrow in the streets of Philadel- 
phia!'" 

The following letter from Benj. H. Corliss, Esq., 
of Gloucester, Mass., was then read. 

Gloucester, Mass., 

September 7, 1874. 

To the Committee of Arrangements for the Centennial Celebra- 
tio?i of JVew Gloucester, Maine. 

Gentlemen : 

I tliank you most heartily for your kind invitation to be present 
at the Centennial Anniversary of your town on the ciglith instant. 

It would have given me great pleasure to have been witli you 
and particii)ated in the services incident to the occasion, but a 



100 RESPONSE BY ELDER OTIS SAWYER. 

recent severe family affliction will necessarily prevent my doing 

60. 

The early settlers of New Gloiicester, many of them, went 
from this vicinity, and in consequence there have always been 
strong tics of affiliation and friendship between the two places, 
possibly a little weakened by time, but which I fondly trust will 
be renewed and strengthened in the future. 

A celebration of this kind is always productive of good results, 
inasmuch as it furnishes the opportunity to bring together fam- 
ilies and friends, who in many cases have been widely sepai-ated, 
to renew and quicken old friendships, to review the past, and by 
an interchange of kindly sentiment and greeting, serve as an in- 
centive to new purposes, and a more earnest desire to promote 
the interests of the town. 

Such, I doubt not, will be the result of this re-union ; and that 
the occasion may be a happy one, pleasant and full of interest 
and profitable enjoyment to all concerned, is my sincere wish. 
In closing permit me to offer as a sentiment : 

New Gloucester. May the favorable auspices under which 
it enters upon a new era in its history, be regarded as the guar- 
antee of its future prosperity. 

"With the assurance of my jDcrsonal regards, 
I remain truly yours, 

BENJ. H. CORLISS. 

The United Society of Shakers, May their numbers never 
be less. 

Response by Otis Sawyer, the presiding Elder of 
the Community : 

Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Unfortunately we Shaker brethren are sometimes stigma- 
tized, by those who know no better, as old bachelors and 



ORIGIN OF SHAKERS. 101 

hating the women. In the name of the wliolc community, 
I repel the charge. There may be some women that we do 
not love quite so well, but, without fear of shame, we de- 
clare that we do love our good Shaker sisters. 

What we have to offer may sound very tame after listen- 
ing to so much eloquence from learned gentlemen, who ap- 
pear to have omitted only one item of interest pertaining to 
the history of the town, and that is in regard to the Shakers ; 
and as it is a matter of astonishment to many people tliat a 
society, based upon such principles as underlie our institu- 
tion, could exist so long — ninety-tivo years — in this town, 
and still be increasing in vigor, to such and to the historian 
a brief history of the origin of Shakers and progress of the 
Society may be of interest. 

There are but two towns in the State of Maine tluit can 
claim the honor of having within their corporate limits a 
Society of that law-loving, law-abiding, peaceable Christian 
people called Shakers, this, the town of New Gloucester 
and the town of Alfred, in York County, and evidently a 
history of the past could not be complete without a special 
notice of this peculiar people. 

Firstly — Origin of Shakers. — It is well known that 
we acknowledge a woman to be the founder of what is 
called the Shaker Society. Ann Lee, of Manchester, Eng- 
land, born in February, 1736, who firstly became a disciple 
of James and Jane Wardly, Friends or Quakers, who be- 
longed to the sect called the French Prophets, was early 
endowed with uncommonly deep religious feelings, and 
under their teachings became deeply inspired, and was 
blessed with many divine gifts, heavenly visions, revelations 
and prophecies, until they, James and Jane Wardlcy, her 
Elders and the Society to which she belonged, all acknowl- 



102 ORIGIN OF SHAKERS. 

edged that she had received greater light and gift of God 
than they possessed, and instinctively looked to her for 
counsel, and called her Mother ; an endearing title which 
all her faithful followers repeat with pleasure. 

Her testimony was so sharp, keen and powerful against 
the root of human depravity that it aroused the enmity of 
the wicked, and she and her few followers were bitterly 
persecuted for their faith and for the testimony which they 
bore. At one time they led her out into a valley and 
attempted to stone her to death ; but as she declared she 
was shielded by the power of God and they were not able 
to injure her, exasperated by failure to accomplish their 
fiendish design, her persecutors fell into contentions among 
themselves and she escaped. At another time she was 
placed in the stone prison of Manchester, in a cell so small 
she could not straiten herself, and there kept fourteen days 
without food or drink, except once in twenty-four hours 
a lad by the name of James Whittaker would insert the 
stem of a pipe through the key-hole of the prison door, and 
pour a little wine and milk into the bowl of the pipe ; 
in this Avay she obtained all the nourishment she received 
during that time. At the end of the fourteen days the 
prison door was opened with the hope and expectation of 
finding her dead, but to the surprise of all she walked off 
as smart and strong as on the day she was put into prison. 

After that she received a revelation to come to America, 
and on the 19th of May, 1774, she and eight of her followers 
embarked in a vessel called the Maria, which had been 
condemned as unseaworthy. During the passage Mother 
Ann told the captain he should not know whereof to accuse 
them, except it were concerning the law of their God, es- 
pecially in the manner of their worship, which did prove 



FIRST SHAKERS IN NEW GLOUCESTER. 103 

offensive ; and when they went forth to praise God in songs 
and dances the captain was greatly enraged, and threatened 
to throw them overboard if they repeated the offense. But 
she, believing it better to obey God rather than man, again 
went forth in the same manner to worship Him. This so 
enraged the captain that he attempted to put his threats 
into execution. This was in the time of a storm and the 
ship sprang a leak. All hands were called to the pumps. 
Mother Ann herself and her companions took their turns. 
The storm was so violent and the leak so bad, that the 
captain turned pale as a corpse and told them there was no 
hope of safety, that the ship must go down and all on board 
perish ; but Mother Ann said " Nay captain, be of good 
cheer, not one hair of our heads shall perish ; we shall all 
land safe in America. I just saw two bright angels of God 
standing by the mast from whom I received this promise." 
Immediately a huge wave struck the ship, closing the plank 
into its place, which had started off, and which caused the 
leak ; the storm abated, and after that the captain said to 
Mother Ann, " To you we owe the safety of the ship and 
our lives ; henceforth worship God as you please, you shall 
not be molested," and ever after treated her with great 
kindness. And, as Mother Ann predicted, they did all land 
safely in New York, on the 6th day of August, 1774, just 
one hundred years ago. Th(^ soon settled in Niskayuna, 
now Watervliet, N. Y., seven miles westerly from the city 
of Albany, from whence their testimony went forth and 
many believed ; which is the origin of Shakers in America. 
First Shakers in New Gloucester. — In November, 
1782, Elisha Pote, Nathan Freeman and Joseph Stone 
came from Gorham, Me., into what was then called Thomp- 
son Pond Plantation, and held meetings in the house of 



104 FIRST SHAKERS IN NEW GLOUCESTER. 

GowEN Wilson, Sr., which was situated in the field just 
south of our large garden, on the west side of the road. 
They were all preachers and singers. Elisha Pote took 
the lead in speaking, whose reasonings were clear and con- 
vincing, and his voice mild and persuasive. After preaching 
they sang and went forth in the dance with much power. 
After singing and laboring one song, they gave liberty for 
any one to unite with them who wished to, when Dorothy 
Pote and Mary Merrill were simultaneously inspired by 
the power of God, their bodies were mightily agitated and 
they turned swiftly round like tops for the space of one 
hour. They both received faith, and with many others, 
like the multitude who went with Jesus to John the Baptist 
confessing their sins, were baptized in Jordan (which signi- 
fies judgment), so they confessed their sins and were bap- 
tized in the spiritual Jordan, which we believe is coming to 
Judgment. 

Among the heads of families who early embraced the 
faith in Christ's second appearing may be named GowEN 
Wilson, Nathan, James, and Edmund Merrill, Josiah, 
Simeon, and Gersham Holmes, Thomas Pote (Father of 
Elisha Pote), Samuel Pote (Elisha's eldest brother), 
Barnabas and Ephraim Briggs, and Thomas Cushman. 
These, with their wives and most of their children, besides 
many individuals, males ancU females of various ages, were 
organized into a Society under the leadership of Elder John 
Barnes, from Alfred, whose associates were Robert Mc- 
Farland, from Gorham, Me., Eldress Sarah Kendall 
and Lucy Prescott, from Harvard, Mass. ; these composed 
the Ministry, and presided over the Society at Alfred as well 
as this. 

Here is an interesting fact for the advocates of woman's 



A SOCIETY ORGANIZED, 1794. 105 

rights, which they suppose is a new thing in the earth, but 
which has been acknowledged by the United Society of 
Shakers, coeval with their existence, when woman, the rep- 
resentative of the Mother in Deity, is permitted to take her 
place in the order and government of the Church of Christ 
co-equal with man. 

i^ The Shaker Society in this town was organized on the 
19th of April, 1794. The first Trustees appointed were 
Nathan Merrill and Barnabas Briggs ; they then com- 
menced to build the present settlement. Two years prior 
to this time timber was cut and hauled to Poland Corner 
to be sawed. This they used in building the meeting house 
and central dwelling. The meeting house was raised the 
14th day of June, 1794, patterning the old Dutch style then 
in vogue in New York. It was finished and ready for occu- 
pancy on Christmas Day of that year. The bricks for the 
two chimneys, of which they used ten thousand in each, 
were made near the foot of Sabbath Day Pond and were 
somewhat smaller in size than those made nowadays. 

All the nails used in its construction were made by Joseph 
Briggs (son of Ephraim Briggs) and a young apprentice. 
The shingles that were put on it that year are on it now, 
but after eighty years' exposure and wear, some few of them 
decayed or were blown off, and this season the roof received 
a slight patching. The old central dwelling house, which 
sits opposite the meeting house, was built the next year,, 
1795. 

The first grist mill in this section of the town was built 
by the combined labor of the brethren in 1786, on a little 
stream about forty rods east of our present stately mill, the 
foundation of which can now be seen. It was a little one- 
story building, 14 feet by 18, with one run of granite stones, 
8 



106 THE GEIST AND SAW MILLS. 

in which was ground wheat, rye, corn and all kinds of grain. 
Its propelling power was what was called an undershot or 
flutter wheel. The bolt was made of linen cloth, spun on 
the linen wheel, and woven by the expert hands of the old 
Shaker Sisters. It was not propelled by machinery, but any 
one carrying a grist to the mill who was so fastidious and 
delicate as to want bolted meal, could turn the bolt by hand 
and bolt his own grist. Bolting was no part of the miller's 
duty. At one end of the shaft a little wedge-shaped piece of 
wood was glued on to the bearing, and at every revolution 
of the bolt there would be a jolt as it dropped from the thick 
end of the wedge, which was designed to keep the meshes 
clear. 

In 1796 the Society built a saw-mill on a stream that 
crossed, at the foot of the hill, the old road leading from 
Shaker Village to UjDper Gloucester, which was well pat- 
ronized by the people living in the surrounding neighbor- 
hood. The Shaker brethren opened and built the present 
traveled road leading from Shaker Village to Gray Corner. 
In 1808 and 1809 the Society built quite a large grist-mill, 
just a little south of where our present mill stands, in which 
were two runs of stones and a good bolt made of imported 
cloth. To this mill a great many farmers living in the back 
towns of Poland, Hebron, Paris, Norway, &c., would bring 
their grain, have it ground, and then take the meal to the 
Portland market. For a few years the mill did good busi- 
ness ; through the fall and winter months it was kept running 
all through the day and many times through the night, there 
being a house near by where the teamsters could find lodg- 
ing. In the same building were turning lathes, and in the 
attic were card machines for making woolen rolls. Nearly 
the whole machinery was made by the brethren, assisted by 



GARDENING AND GARDEN SEEDS. 107 

old friend May all, of Gray ; these were well patronized, as 
hitherto the most of the wool manufactured in this section 
was carded by hand. When our present mill was erected, 
in 1853, this machinery was removed from the old mill, 
clothed with new card cloth, and has been in constant use 
ever since. Although it was said to be the second or third 
set of machine cards put in operation in this State, yet 
under the skillful hands of our present carder, Bro. Josiah 
NoYES, the old ladies who spin the rolls give his the prefer- 
ence over all others. 

The members of the Society were many of them poor, 
and their combined acres formed at first but a small farm 
for so many, but by industry and prudence, additions have 
been made from time to time, until the real estate of the 
Society at large comprises some eighteen hundred acres, 
more than one thousand of which lies in the town of New 
Gloucester. * 

Attention was early given to gardening and the raising 
of garden seeds, and the Shakers in New Gloucester were 
the first in this State to prepare garden seeds in small paper 
bags, and pack in boxes for the market, which was done 
under the supervision of James Holmes, eldest son of 
Josiah Holmes. The Society early commenced to manu- 
facture wooden ware, tubs, pails, churns, dry measures, oval 
boxes in nests, hair sieves, linen and woolen Avheels. 

The Sisterhood would purchase cotton in Portland, wash 
and card it by hand, spin and weave it, not only for home 
use, but to make sheeting, shirting, bed-ticking and checked 
blue and white for aprons, for Portland market. After 
machinery was introduced into New England to manufac- 
ture cotton yarn, the merchants of Portland would furiiisli 
yarn, and the Sisters would weave many hundred yards 



108 WEAVING — LONGEVITY — ANTI-WAR SPIRIT. 

yearly, for which they received a certain percentage. 
Twenty cents per yard for weaving and whitening No. 20, 
thirty cents per yard for No. 30, and so on, more or less, 
according to the number of j^arn. One of the old merchants, 
Edwaed Howe, still lives (now over 90 years of age), for 
whom they manufactured cloth, to be retailed out to the 
ladies of Portland. 

It may be interesting to the young ladies of our day who 
spend much time playing on the piano, to learn that the 
young ladies of that day would weave on. a hand loom from 
ten to eighteen yards of plain coarse sheeting in a day, and 
smart hands would weave ten yards of firm bed-ticking in a 
day. 

To show that the Shaker life and habits are productive of 
longevity, we look over the records and find there have been 
one hundred and five deaths in the Church Family, at the 
average age of fifty-eight years and a half, dating back 
to the year 1787. 

It has been said, " To test a man's conscience touch his 
purse." As a proof of the Shakers' anti-war spirit and 
unselfishness as a people, we note the fact, that at the com- 
mencement of the late civil war many reasons were presented 
the War Department at Washington, why Shakers should 
be exempt from bearing arms or performing military duty, 
and after setting forth many vital conscientious reasons the 
following fact was shown, that had the members of the 
United Society been permitted to draw pensions for military 
services to which they were legally entitled, the Society at 
New Gloucester alone would have received from the United 
States Government in pensions, to say nothing of bounty 
land, which, had it been put at six per cent, compound inter- 
est, would have made the snug little sum of $89,572.66, that 



KESPONSE BY AUGUSTUS P. MARTIN. 109 

was refused for conscience sake, and this kind of reasoning 
was appreciated. 

In conclusion we offer this apology to those who ate of 
the Shakers' baked beans to-day, and were disappointed in 
not finding death in the pot in the shape of pork : that in 
the year 1848, the Shakers, from purely physiological rea- 
sons, discarded the use of pork and pork fat as an article 
of diet, and no good Shaker, any more than a good Jew, 
will make use of it as such, not even in that good old Puri- 
tan dish, baked beans. 

The Ladies of New Gloucester. Known by their works. 

Response by the Band. 

The Soldiers of the late Rebellion. 

Response by Augustus P. Martin, of Boston. 

Mr. Chairman^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am very glad to have the opportunity of being present 
upon this interesting occasion and of joining with you in 
the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
incorporation of this town ; and while I cannot claim to be 
a citizen of New Gloucester, nor can I claim it as my birth- 
place, yet my childhood and early boyhood was passed in 
this town, and my first and earliest recollections are associ- 
ated with " Bald Hill." Its yonder height looms up in the 
distance and must be familiar to every one here to-day. It 
was there that I first heard a mother's prayer. It was there 
that I first knew what it was to exist. It was there that I 
first learned as a child to appreciate the companionship of 
my young friends and playmates. My mind and my heart 



110 EESPONSE BY AUGUSTUS P. MAETIN. 

often reach out to the scenes of those days when I had no 
responsibility but that of pleasure. 

I cannot claim New Gloucester as my birth-place, but I 
have always called it my native town, for I never knew any 
other place of nativity except by record and tradition, and 
I never intend to cease claiming it as my native town so 
long as you do not object to my so doing ; besides, my father 
and mother were both of them born and raised here, and 
the family name on either side is familiar to the ear of every 
resident of this place, and has been as far back as any one 
here can recollect ; names that have always stood among 
the foremost on the roll of citizens of the town for nearly, if 
not fully one hundred years. 

As we go journeying through life, our minds often reflect 
upon the past and take a retrospect of our lives and deeds. 
These make a perfect chain with innumerable links, one end 
of which is firmly fixed at the point or place where we first 
comprehended our being, and stretches out day by day, link 
upon link, and is not complete until our earthly career is 
ended. And as we wander along through the rough and 
rugged paths of life, our thoughts often run back with more 
than lightning rapidity over this chain to our early childhood, 
and there we seek and enjoy the pleasant recollections of 
days when we were not burdened with care, and our minds 
scarcely knew anything beyond the endearments surround- 
ing the home of our youth. Such a place is " Bald Hill " 
to rae. Hence I feel it is proper and fitting that I should be 
present here to-day and join in this Centennial Celebration. 

While it was many years ago that I took up my residence 
in a distant city, there has not been a year that I have not 
made a pilgrimage to these hills and valleys, to the scenes 
of my childhood, and have kept informed of the changes that 



RESPONSE BY AUGUSTUS P. MARTIN. HI 

were constantly going on among you. I have been familiar 
enough with the history of this town and its people for more 
than a quarter of a century to know, that as private citizens 
you have sustained the precepts and examples of former 
generations, and whenever you have been called upon to go 
out from your homes to defend the flag under which we live, 
your citizens have responded with alacrity. 

It was my privilege to serve in the late rebellion side by 
side with the troops from this State and Town, and I can bear 
testimony to the noble and heroic manner in which your vol- 
unteers discharged their duty. They were always brave, 
always reliable, always persevering, always loyal and always 
successful. Wherever they were put, or whatever duty they 
were called upon to perform, they always acquitted them- 
selves honorably. No troops fought better for the cause of 
the Union, or deserve higher praise than the soldiers from 
Maine. I could relate to you many instances to which I was an 
eye witness, of the personal courage of many individuals from 
your State, and of the valor of many of your battalions in 
defence of the national life and character; but it must be 
sufficient on this occasion for me to say from personal 
experience, what you already know by the record, that 
the reputation of the Maine soldiers, in every emergency, 
came out of the fiery ordeal untarnished, and I am sure that 
their heroism in the past will constitute an influence hereafter 
in the hour of danger, which will be a power in itself, and 
must serve to make this country enduring and powerful as 
a united and independent people. 

The brief hour allotted to us here may not be without 
its fitting lessons of profit, that shall gladden our lives with 
its treasured sweets, in strengthening and enlarging those 
golden cords of sympathy that are found in friendship's 



112 REMARKS BY ALFRED HASKELL, ESQ. 

shining circle, and more firmly bind us together as citizens, 
friends and brothers. 

Whose heart does not stir with quicker pulsations for 
being present here to-day ? The history that has been pro- 
nounced upon this occasion by the gentleman who has filled 
the position of Orator and Historian, will be cherished by 
every citizen of this town who shall come after us, to the 
latest day of their lives. He has given us cherishing words, 
full of hope, full of generous memories, full of proud aspira- 
tions, to which, in the providence of God, we can turn our 
eyes and thoughts to-day with pleasure and satisfaction. 

Sir, I rejoice that I am here to-day, and I wish to say. 
Honor to the families of this town ! honor to those stern and 
gallant men who have upheld it through every vicissitude of 
fortune ! honor to you for what you are doing here to-day, 
for the transmission of this history, as I hope, for hundreds 
of years to come ! 

Alfred Haskell, Esq., of Portland, a native of New 
Gloucester, being called upon, said : 

Mr. Chairman^ Ladies and Cfentlemen : 

I have been looking forward to this day with unusual 
interest, anticipating a very happy re-union, and I can most 
truly say, that my anticipations have been fully realized. 

I have been living over again the happy days of my 
childhood, going back to the period when many of us were 
children together, some of us attending the same school, 
sliding down the same hill, playing upon the same lawn, 
and, if I mistake not, sometimes brought under the discipline 
of the same rod, which was so faithfully and so feelingly 
applied to our young shoulders by our good and faithful 



OLD ASSOCIATIONS. 113 

teachers. How very fresh in my memory are the services 
of our first teacher, who, when our little limbs became so 
fatigued with sitting upon those old hard benches, and our 
little eyes became so dull and heavy that they would 
scarcely turn in their sockets, made up her little cots 
and put her younger pupils to bed. God bless her! I 
shall ever remember her with grateful recollections, not 
only for her offices of kindness, but also for her discipline. 
Aye, I shall ever remember her, for she " first taught my 
young idea how to shoot." It affords me much pleasure 
to know that she is still living, and I presume is present 
to-day. If not present herself, she has her representatives 
here, one of whom is the Orator of the day. 

Since those days many of us have been traveling very 
different roads, and some of us have met now for the first 
time, and I can assure you all, it affords me much pleasure 
that I have the privilege of meeting you once more on this 
old familiar ground. It is very true that during our absence 
our faces have grown older, our heads have grown whiter, 
but I hope our hearts have grown warmer than when we 
first left. Yet, amid our kind greetings and hearty hand 
shakings, as we look around upon many old hearth-stones, 
our hearts are made sad with beholding so many vacant 
chairs. 

I love to visit these scenes of my childhood ; I love to 
look at the place where the old school house stood, and to 
think over the many scenes I have seen enacted within its 
walls. I love to stand in the road, and look down the hill 
where I have spent so many happy hours in coasting, some- 
times with the boys and sometimes with the girls. I love to 
look over the fields where my father, my grandfather and my 
great grandfather lived and labored before me. If there is 



114 



THE FIRST CAERIAGE IN TOWN. 



any spot in this town I love to visit more than any other, it 
is the old cemetery, where I can read the inscriptions upon the 
tombstones, and hold sweet spiritual communion with many 
loved ones who have passed over the river before us. I love 
to think of the old men and the old ladies also. I mean those 
who were old when I was young. 

I can very well remember the man who had the first 
carriage ever owned in this town. It was a two-wheeled 
horse-cart, and the owner was in the habit of letting it to 
his neighbors at one dollar a trip to carry their produce to 
market. I refer to Mr. John Haskell. 

I very well remember Isaac Parsons, Esq., a gentleman 
of culture and influence, very precise, very correct and very 
honest. He was the owner of the first chaise and the first pair 
of calf-skin boots ever owned in this town. I remember the 
chaise, but not the boots. I very well recollect a clause in the 
old gentleman's will, requesting his successors never to drive 
upon the intervale with iron-bound wheels, and always to shut 
the intervale bars after them. How little did 'Squire Paesons 
think his intervale would be crossed by two iron-band roads, 
traversed by fiery steeds, at the rate of twenty and thirty 
miles an hour ; but time has brought it all about. 

There was an old gentleman who lived in a house which 
sat upon the spot where Captain Gutter's house now stands. 
He went by the not very classical name of old "Fuddyduddy." 
His business was repairing carriages. Some of the mis- 
chievous boys painted a sign and placed it upon the stone 
wall, saying, " Wagons and sleighs repaired in the next barn 
by old Fuddyduddy." 

There was another old gentleman whom I do not remem- 
ber, for he lived before my day ; but I have heard those 
older than myself speak of him, and relate a little incident 



DRIVING nOGS TO POUND. 115 

in which he took a prominent part. His name was Bildad 
Arnold ; he lived near the foot of the hill, on that level, 
sandy farm a little west of Cobb's Bridge ; he was in the 
habit of calling his hogs by pounding on the house. Mr. 
LoRiNG, the field driver, came along one day and finding 
Mr. Arnold's hogs in the road undertook to drive them 
to pound. Mr. Arnold sat very quietly in his house, 
watching the movements of the field driver until he had 
driven the hogs well up the hill towards the corner, when 
he pounded upon the house, and back came the hogs with 
the field driver after them. He succeeded in driving them 
up the hill a second time. Mr. Arnold pounded again 
upon the house, when back came the hogs with the field 
driver somewhat excited at their heels. Mr. Loring was 
a persevering man, and with a firm determination if not 
a little temper he started the hogs for a third time, fully 
resolved not to be conquered. After much laboring, fum- 
ing and sweating, he succeeded in driving them up the hill 
once more, when rap, rap, rap, went the blows and back 
rushed the hogs as if ten legions of devils had entered into 
them. As Mr. Loring* stood gazing upon the scene, I 
imagine if any one had been near enough, he might have 
been heard soliloquizing something like this : "I find from 
experience, that driving hogs to pound is most decidedly an 
up hill business. Standing as I do here, in full view of the 
situation, I begin to comprehend the difficulty, and, under 
the circumstances, I think I had better retire." Suiting the 
action to the word, I presume he turned upon his heel and 
walked rapidly home, his mind somewhat exercised with 



*This was Bezaleel Loring, who lived on the Obeui.vii Whitman place, 
a Constable and Deputy SheriflF; tlie man who hung Drew, and thereby 
acquired the name of "Hangman Loring." 



116 



1 



DOXOLOGY. I 



the obstinacy of hogs in general, and Bildad Arnold's 
hogs in particular. 

Late in the afternoon the entire assemblage rose and 
sang the 

DOXOLOGY. 

From all who dwell below the skies, 
Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
Let the Redeemer's name be sung, 
Through every land, by every tongue. 

Eternal are Thy mercies. Lord ; 

Eternal truth attends Thy word ; 

Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore, 

Till suns shall rise and set no more. 

Thus ended one of the most enjoyable days the Town 
of New Gloucester ever witnessed, " remindful of the 
past and auspicious of the future." 




117 



APPENDIX. 



AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

New Gloucester, although a remote inland town, took a decided 
stand in the Revolutionary War, as appears by the following 
votes, etc. 

1774, September 24. Col. William Allen, Capt. William Habris and 
Capt. Isaac Parsons were chosen a committee to attend a County Convention 
at Falmouth, to consider wliat measures were expedient to adopt for the gen- 
eral interest of the County in the then alarming situation of public affairs. 

The following is a copy of the record of that Convention. 

At a meeting of the following gentlemen chosen by the several towns in 
the County of Cumberland, held at the house of Mr. Greeley, innholder in 
Falmouth, in said County, the 20th day of September, 1776, the Honourable 
Enoch Freeman, Esq., being chosen Chairman, and Mr. Sam'l Freeman, 
Clerk, viz : from — 

Falmouth — The Honourable Enoch Freeman, Esq., Stephen Longfellow, Esq., 

Mr. Enoch Ilsley, Mr. Richard Codman, Capt. John Waite, Mr. Samuel 

Freeman. 
North Yarmouth — David Mitchell, Esq., Mr. John Lewis, Mr. Jonathan Mitchell, 

Mr. John Gray, Mr. William Cutter. 
Scarborough— Ca.]}t. Timothy M. Daniel, Capt. Reuben Fogg, Mr. Joshua 

Fabyan. 
Gorham — Solomon Lombard, Esq., William Gorham, Esq., Capt. Edmund 

Phinney, Capt. Bryant Morton, Mr. Jona Davis. 



118 MK. SHERIFF TYNG's DECLAEATION. 

Cape Elizabeth — Dr. Clement Jordan, Mr. Peter Woodbury, Mr. Sam'l Dunn 
Mr. George Strout, Dr. Nathaniel Jones, Capt. Judah Dyer. 

Brunswick — Mr. Samuel Standwood, Mr. Samuel Tompson, Captain Thomas 
Moulton. 

Harpsivell — Mr. Joseph Ewings, Capt. John Stover, Mr. Andrew Dunning. 

Windham — Mr. Zorobable Honywell, Mr. Thomas Trott, Mr. David Barker. 

New Gloucester — Mr. William Harris, Mr. Isaac Parsons. 

A committee from the body of people who were assembled at the entrance 
of the town, waited on this Convention, to see if they would choose a committee 
of one member out of eacli town to join them, to waite on Mr. SheriflPTYNG, to 
see whether he would act in his office under the late act of Parliament for 
regulating the Government. 

On a motion made. 

Voted, That a messenger be sent to Mr. Ttng to desire his attendance at 
this Convention. Mr. Dow, who was desired to attend on this Convention, 
then waited on Mr. Tyng with the following billet, viz : 

Mr. Sheriff Ttng's company is desired at the Convention now sitting at Mr. 

CtREELEY s 

SAMUEL FREEMAN, Clerk. 
« 

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 1774, eleven o'clock a. m. 

Mr. Tyng accordingly attended, and after some interrogations, subscribed 
the following declaration : 

County of Cumberland. Falmouth, Sept. 21, 1774. 

Whereas, great numbers of the inhabitants of this County are now assem- 
bled near my house, in consequence of the false representations of some evil 
minded persons, who have reported that I have endeavored all in my power 
to in force the late acts of Parliament relating to this Province, I do hereby 
solemnly declare that I have not any way whatever, acted or endeavored to 
act in conformity to said acts of Parliament, and in compliance with the 
commands of the inhabitants so assembled, and by the advice of a committee 
from the several towns in this County, now assembled in Congress, I further 
declare I will not, as Sheriff of said County or otherwise, act in conformity 
to, or by virtue of said acts, unless by the general consent of the said County. 
I further declare I have not received any commission inconsistent with the 
charter of this Province, nor any commission whatever since the first day of 
July last. 

WM. TYNG, Countu Sheriff. 



SENTIMENTS OP THE CONVENTION OF 1774. 119 

COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. 

At the Convention of Committees from the several towns in the said County, 
held at the house of Mr. Greely, in Falmouth in said County, Sept. 24, 1774, 

Voled. Tliat the foregoing, by William Tyng, Esq., subscribed, is satis- 
factory to this convention. 

Attest, SAMUEL FREEMAN, Clerk. 

The Convention then formed themselves into a committee to accompany 
Mr. Tyng to tlie body of people to present the above declaration, and ad- 
journed to the old Town House at 3 o'clock r. m., tlie deliberations there to 
be in public. 

The committee accordingly went with Mr. Tyng, who read the declaration 
to the people, which they voted to be satisfactory, and after refreshing them- 
selves returned peaceably to their respective homes. 

P. M., 3 o'clock, met according to adjournment. 

Voted, That Mr. Samuel Freeman, Solomon Lombard, Esq., David 
Mitchell, Esq., Mr. John Lewis, Capt. John Waite, Mr. Samoel Tomfson, 
Capt. Timothy M. Daniel, Doctor Nath'l Jones, Mr. Isaac Parsons, Enoch 
Freeman, Esq., Mr. David Barker and Capt. John Stover, be a committee 
to draw up the sentiments of tliis convention, and report the same at the ad- 
journment. 

Then adjourned to Thursday morning, 8 o'clock. 

September 22. Met according to adjournment, when tlio committee presented 
the following report, which, after being read paragraph by paragraph, was 
unanimously accepted. * 

The great concern with which the people of this County view the increasing 
differences which now subsist between the Motiier Country and the Colonies, 
and the dark prospect which some late Acts of the British Parliament, have in 
particular opened to tliem, has occasioned the several towns iierein, to clioose 
committees for this Convention, " To consider wliat measures it would be 
thought expedient to adopt for tiie general interest of tlie County in the present 
alarming situation of our public affairs." We, therefore, the said committee, 
pursuant to the request of our respective towns, guided by a strong attach- 
ment to the interest of our oppressed country, think it proper, with respect 



* Stephen Lonc;fellow, Esq., :hough ho voted fully .against the l.ato Acta of tlio 
British Parliament, yet he manifested hia dislike to some expression made use of iu said 
report, which he termed harsh and provoking. 



120 SENTIMENTS OF THE CONVENTION OF 1774. 

and deference to our brethren in the otlier counties, to make known our minds 
as follows : 

We think it the indispensible duty of every subject of the English Constitu- 
tion, for our own sakes as well as that of future generations, to use his utmost 
care and endeavour, according to the station he is in, to preserve the same 
inviolate and unimpaired ; for we regard it not only as the foundation of all 
our civil rights and liberties, but as a system of government, the best calcu- 
lated to promote the peoples' peace and happiness. And we lament that in 
the present administration there are men so lost to all the principles of honour, 
equity and justice as to attempt a violation of the rights which we have long 
enjoj'ed, and which, while we profess ourselves, as we now declare we do, 
allegiant subjects to George the Third, our rightful Sovereign, we have a right 
still to enjoy entire and unmolested. And it is a melancholy considera- 
tion that the acknowledged head of this respected State should be induced 
to pass his sanction to such laws as tend to the subversion of that glorious 
freedom, which preserves the greatness of the British Empire, and gives its 
reputation throughout all the nations of the civil world. It is too apparent 
that the British ministry have long been hatching monstrous acts to break our 
constitution, and some they have at length brought forth. We think the 
Colonies deserve a better treatment from His Majesty than this which he 
assents to. We are his legal subjects, and merit his regard, and can't help 
thinking that if he would pursue his own unbiased judgment, and cast aside the 
selfish counsel of wicked and designing men, he and his subjects would be 
mutually happy, and provocations on both sides cease. But since the ministry 
have borne their tyranny to such a length as to endeavour to execute their 
wicked designs by military force in our metropolis, we fear it is their aim to 
introduce despotic monarchy. But though their tyranny and fell oppression 
seems now with hasty strides to threaten all the Colonies with ruin and 
destruction, we hope no vengeance will affright or will allure us to give up our 
dear bouglit liberty, that choicest boon of Heaven which our fathers came 
into these regions to enjoy, and which we therefore will retain while life 
enables us to struggle for its blessings. 

We believe our enemies supposed we must submit and tamely give up all 
our rights. It is true a rigorous opposition will subject us to many incon- 
veniences, but how much greater will our misery be if we rehuquish all we 
now enjoy, and lay our future earnings at the mercy of despotic men ? We 
cannot bear the thought. Distant posterity would have cause to curse our 
folly, and the rising generation would justly execrate our memory. 

We therefore recommend a manly opposition to those cruel acts, and every 
measure which despotism can invent to " abridge our English liberties," and 



SENTIMENTS OF THE CONYENTIOX OF 1774. 121 

we liope t]iat patience will possess our souls, till Providence shall dissipate the 
gloomy cloud and restore us to our former liappy state. 

The late act for regulating the government of this Province, we consider in 
particluar, as big with mischief and destruction, tending to the subversion of 
our Charter and our Province laws, and in its dire example alarming to all the 
Colonies. This, through the conduct of some enemies among ourselves, will 
soon bring us into difficulties, which will require some able counsel to remove. 

We therefore recommend to each, town in this Coimty, to instruct their 
several representatives, to resolve themselves with the other members of the 
House at their approaching session into a Provincial Congress for tliis pur- 
pose. 

To this Congress we shall submit the general interest of the Province, but 
for the particular benefit of tliis County we do advise and recommend — 

1. That the Justices of the Sessions and Court of Common Pleas, and 
every other civil oflBcer in this County, whom no authority can remove but 
that which constituted them agreeable to Charter and our own Provincial laws, 
would religiously oflBciate in their several departments, as if the aforesaid act 
had never been invented, and that every private person would pay a strict 
obedience to such officers, be always ready to protect and to support them, 
and promote a due observance of our own established laws, and if any person 
whatever should henceforth in any manner dare to aid the operation of the 
said tyrannic act, they should be considered as malignant enemies to our charter 
rights, unfit for civil societj', and undeserving of the least regard or favor from 
their fellow countrymen. 

2. That every one would do his utmost to discourage law suits, and likewise 
compromise disputes as much as possible. 

3. That it be recommended to the Honourable Jeremiah Powell, Esq., 
and the Honourable Jedediaii Predle, Esq., Constitutional Counsellors of 
this Province, residing in this County, that they would take their places at the 
Board the ensuing session as usual. 

4. We cannot but approve of the recommendation given by the Conven- 
tion of SuflTolk County to the several Collectors of Province taxes, not to pay 
one farthing more into the Province Treasury until the government of the 
Province is placed upon a constitutional foundation, or until the Provincial 
Congress shall order otherwise ; and we recommend the same to the several 
Collectors in tliis County, but we think it is the duty of the several Collectors 
of County, Town and District taxes, to perfect their collections and pay the 
same into their several Treasuries as soon as possible. And we think it proper 
to observe, that though we do not coincide in every instance with our Suffolk 
brethren, which may be owing to a want of knowing all the circumstances of 
alTairs, yet we highly applaud their virtuous zeal and determined resolutions. 

9 



122 SENTIMENTS OF THE CONVENTION OF 1774. 

5. We recommend to every town in this County charitably to contribute 
to the relief of our sutfering brethren in our distressed Metropolis. 

6. Lest oppression, which maketli even wise men mad, should hurry some 
people into tumults and disorder, we would recommend that every individual 
in the County would use his best endeavours to suppress at all times, riots, 
mobs and all licentiousness, and that our fellow subjects would consider them- 
selves, as they always are, in the presence of the great God who loveth order 
and not confusion. 

7. That when a general non-importation agreement takes place, we shall 
look upon it to be the duty of every vender of merchandise to sell his goods 
at the present rates, and if anj' person shall exorbitantly enhance the prices 
of his goods we shall look upon him as an oppressor of his country, and in 
order to prevent impositions in this respect, we recommend that a committee 
be chosen in each town to receive complaints against any who may be blamed 
lierein, and if he shall refuse to wait on such committee on notice given, or be 
found culpable in this respect, his name shall be published in the several towns 
in the County, as undeserving of the future custom of his countrymen. 

8. That every one who has it in his poAver, would improve our breed of 
sheep, and as far as possible increase their numbers, and also encourage the 
raising of flax and promote the manufactures of the country. 

9. As the very extraordinary and alarming act for establishing the Roman 
Catholic Religion and French laws in Canada, may introduce the French or 
Indians into our frontier towns, we recommend that every town and individual 
in this County would be provided with a proper stock "of military stores, ac- 
cording to our Province law, and that some patriotic military officers be chosen 
in each town to exercise their several companies and make them perfect in the 
military art. 

10. Our general grievances being the subject of deliberation before the' 
Constitutional Congress, renders it inxepedient to consider them particularly. 
On their wisdom we have a great dependence, and we think it will be our duty 
to lay aside every measure to which we have advised that may be variant 
with theirs, and pay a due regard to their result. 

And now, we think it proper to declare, that as we have been recounting the 
hardships we endure by the machinations of our enemies at home, we cannot 
but gratefully acknowledge our obligation to those illustrious worthies, our 
friends of the minority, who constantly opposed those wicked measures ; and 
would heartily wish some great and good men would invent and work out 
some plan that will unite the parent State to these, its Colonies, and tliereby 
prevent the effusion of Christian blood. Then — 



VOTES OF THE TOWN, 1774 AND 1775. 123 

Voted, Tliat every member of this Convention be severally interrogated, 
whether he now has or will hereafter, take any commission under the present 
act of Parliament for regulating the government of this Province. 

The members were accordingly interrogated, and each and every of them 
answered in the negative. 

Voted, That the several committees which compose this Convention, or the 
major part of each be, and hereby are desired to interrogate the civil officers, 
and other persons whom they may think fit, in their respective towns, whether 
they now have, or will hereafter take any commission under the aforesaid act. 

Voted, That the whole proceedings of this Convention be by the Clerk 
transmitted to the press, and also to the Town Clerks of the respective towns 
in this County as soon as may be. 

Voted, That this Convention be continued, and that the Committee of 
Falmouth, or the major part of them, be and hsreby are empowered on .any 
occasion that in their opinion requires it, to notify a meeting of the delegates 
thereof, at such time and place as they may think proper, setting forth the 
occasion thereof. 

Voted, That the thanks of this Convention be given to the Honourable 
Enoch Freeman, Esq., for his faithful services as Chairman. 

A true copy. 

Attest : SAM'L FREEMAN, Clerk. 



VOTES OF THE TOWN". 

1774, September 27. Voted, To choose a committee of seven in number to 
inspect over the inhabitants of this town, to see whether the people do subject 
to the resolves of Congress, and expose them that do not. 

Voted, The following persons be that committee : Micah Walker, .Josiah 
Smith, Isaac Parsons, John Woodman, Enoch Fogg and Nathaniel Ben- 
nett. 

The above committee Avas to act in relation to the non-importa- 
tion and non-consumption of British goods. 

1775, March 21. Voted, That Capt. Wm. Harris, Capt. Isaac Parsons 
and Moses Merrill, Jr., be a committee to join in a County Convention, if 
called for. 

Voted, Capt. Wm. Harris, John Woodman and Enoch Fogg be a com- 
mittee to provide a store of provisions and ammunition for the town's use, 
according to the recommendation of the County Congress. 



124 ACT TO PEEVENT MONOPOLY. 

1775, April 25. Voted, To have twenty men in readiness to go upon any 
campaign that may be called for, and upon the shortest notice. 

Voted, That those that shall go shall have their proportionable part of their 
labor done every week (faithfully) so long as they shall be gone, and that they 
shall have their wages for their bounty, and be furnished with as much pro- 
vision as they will carry, and be billeted on the roads upon the town's cost. 

(The above meeting was verbally notified by the Selectmen upon news of 
Lexington fight.) 

1775, October 30. Voted, That Capt. "William Haekis, Capt. Isaac Par- 
sons and David Millet be a Committee of Safety. 

Voted, To join the other towns in this County in fortifying on Falmouth 
Neck. 

1776, March 19. Voted, That Capt. Isaac Parsons, Capt. William Har- 
ris and Peleg Chandler be the Committee of Safety. 

1777, March 24. Voted, That Ebenezer Collins, Samuel Merrill and 
Luke Kterson be the Committee of Safety. 

1776, May 21. Voted, That if the Honorable Congress should, for the 
safety of the Colonies, declare them independent of Great Britain, they will 
solemnly engage with their lives and fortimes to support the Congress in the 
measure. 

An act of the General Court in 1777 to prevent monopoly and 
oppression fixed the following schedule of prices. 

Wheat, 7s. a bushel. 

Eye, 5s. " 

Corn, 4s. " 

Wood, 2s. 

Pork, 4d. a pound. 

Beef, 3s. 4d. 

Hides, 3d. 

Calf Skins, 6d. " 

Salt, 10s. a bushel. 

West India Eum, 6s. 8d. a gal. by hhd. 

6s. lOd. " bbl. 

7s. 8d. " gal. 

2s. qt. 

New Eng. Eum, 3s. lOd. a gal. by hhd. 

4s. 6d. a gallon. 
Sugar, 8d. a pound retail. Wood delivered in Boston, 28s. a cord. 



Butter, ] 


.Od. a pound. 


Peas, 


8s. a bushel. 


Beans, 


6s. " 


Potatoes, 


Is. 4d. a bushel in the Fall, 




not over 2s. at other times. 


Men's yarn stockings, 6s. a pair. 


" shoes, 8s. '.' 


Beef, 3i 


; 14s. 6d. a bbl., 240 lbs. 


Pork, 4£ 12s. " 220 " 


Cotton, 


3s. a pound. 


Oats, 


2s. a bushel. 


Flax, 


Is. a pound. 


Coffee, 


Is. 4d. « 


Tallow, 


7id. " 


Flannel, 


3s. 6d. a yard. 



VOTES OF THE TOWN, 1778 AND 1779. 125 

Molasses, 4J. a gallon. Turkeys 5d. a pound. 

Cheese, 6d. a pound. Milk, ^d. a quart. 

Tow cloth, 2s. 3d. a yard. 

The Selectmen of towns were authorized to fix prices in pro- 
portion, and a penalty Avas imposed for selling at higher prices. 

By a subsequent act, the Selectmen and Committees of towns 
were allowed to fix prices every two months, to take effect after 
the same were posted in iDublic places in town. 

1777, July 22. Under this last act, Exoch Fogg, John Has- 
KELt, John Tyler, Honoby Butler, E. Merrill and Peleg 
Chandler were chosen the committee. 

1778, March 23. Voted, That Peleg Chandler, Peter Graffam, Luke 
Ryerson, Ebenezer Mason and Bezaleel Loring, be the Committee of 
Safety. 

1778, April 6. A Town Meeting was called to encourage 
enlistments. The return of the officer on the warrant is as 
follows : 

Cdmberlaxd, ss. 

Agreeable to the within warrant, I have warned the inhabitants personally, 
they all being assembled in a muster, in the training field, and by the leave of 
the Militia Officers, the people attended the meeting. 

(Signed), JACOB HASKELL, Constable. 

At that meeting the town voted to raise $800 for volunteers 
to serve seven months in the army. 

1779, March 16. Voted, Capt. Isaac Parsons, Pbleo Chandler and Wm. 
Parsons be the Committee of Safety. 

Voted, Luke Ryerson, Peleg Chandler and Benj. Harris be a Com- 
mittee of Inspection. 

1779, Aug. 9. Voted, To accept the proceedings of the Convention, begun 
and held at Concord, on the 14th of July, 1779. 

Voted, To raise a Committee of Seven to regulate the prices of innholders, 
teamsters, and our own labor and other articles of trade in our own town, 
agreeable to a resolve of said Convention. 

Mr. Simon Noyes, Capt. Isaac Parsons, Col. Moses Merrill, 
John Merrill, Moses Haskell, Enoch Fogg and Wm. Harts- 
horn were chosen this Committee. 



126 



ROLL OF CAPT. PARSON S COMPANY. 



Voted, $100 to Capt. Isaac Parsons, for attending said Convention. 

1779, November 22. Voted, To accept the proceedings of the late Conven- 
tion held at Concord on the sixth day of October last, for the purpose of reg- 
ulating the prices on the articles of trade throughout this State. 

Voted, Isaac Parsons, Esq., Peleg Chandler and Wm. Parsons be a 
Special Committee to see that the people pay due observance to tlie resolve of 
the said Convention. 

Voted, That Jacob Haskell, Capt. William Harris, Peleg Chandler, 
John Merrill and Nathaniel Eveleth be a committee to set the prices on 
the articles of trade in this town, agreeable to the recommendation of the 
said Convention. 

1780, March 7. Voted, That Capt. Isaac Parsons, Peleg Chandler and 
Edward Parsons be the Committee of Safety. 

1781, March 6. Voted, That Peleg Chandler, John Merrill and Josiah 
Smith be the Committee of Safety. 

1782, March 12. Voted, That Capt. Wm. Harris, Peleg Chandler and 
Ebenezer Lowe be the Committee of Safety. 

1783, March 11. Voted, That Peleg Chandler, Enoch Fogg and Capt. 
Isaac Parsons be the Committee of Safety. 



Roll of Cajit. Isaac Parson's Company, mustered into service 
May, 1780, for eight months' service at Thomaston, under General 
"Wads WORTH, Col. Prime's Regiment. 



Isaac Parsons, Captain. 
Ichabod Hanson, First Lieut. 
George Roberts, Second Lieut. 
Benjamin Haskell, Sergeant. 
Josiah Wallace, " 

Benjamin Trott, " 

Asa Libba, " 

Peter Smith, Drummer. 
Moses Harris, Corporal. 
Jacob Brown, " 
Walter Simonton, " 
William True, " 
Abraham Cleaves, Private. 
Philenion Collins, " 



Henry Dyer, 
George Hayes, 
Jeremiah Hanson, 
Andrew Jordan, 
Zebulon York, 
James Levitt, 
Thos. Mitchell, 
James Mitchell, 
Elisha Small, 
George Strout, 
Thos. Mayberry, 
Levi Morse, 
Ebenezer Mason, 
Eleazer Parsons, 



Private. 



PETITION" TO GENERAL COURT, 1809. 



127 



John Cliandler, Private. 

James Chute, " 

Nathaniel Chase, " 

Isaac Eveleth, " 

Jacob Elliott, " 

Benjamin Herring, " 

George Knight, " 

Samuel Lord, " 

Ephraim Avery, " 

John Bailey, " 
Ephraim Chamberlain, " 

Samuel Crockett, " 

Paul Dyer, " 

Edward Flint, " 



Ephraim Stinchfield, 
James Stevens, 
Samuel Tobin, 
Barnabas Winslow, 
John Winship, 
Enoch Strout, 
Micah Small, 
Isaac Foster, 
Jonathan Iladen, 
Joshua Clerk, 
Ezekiel Ilackett, 
Joshua Lane, 
y John Megquier, 
John W. Davis, 



Private. 



WAR OF 1812. 



In the exciting antl troublous times of the embargo and war 
of 1812, the town was strongly federal in politics, although some 
of the i^rincipal citizens were of the Democratic party. 

The following extracts from the records of the town show the 
state of public feeling : 

1809, February 13. At a town meeting held in tlie meeting house. 

Voted, To petition the Legislature of this Commonwealth to interpose their 
influence witli the General Government to raise the embargo and repeal the 
several laws relative to the same, and afford us such other relief in these days 
of distress as they in their wisdom shall deem meet. 

Voted, That Peleg Chandler, Jr., Nathaniel C. Allen, Daniel Howard, 
Esq., Zebclon Rowe and Dr. Timothy Little be the committee to draft 
said petition. 

The committee withdrew a shqrt time, and then returned and reported a 
petition which was accepted by the town. Tiie following is tlie petition : 

To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts in General Court assembled : 
We, the inhabitants of the town of New Gloucester, in the County of Cum- 
berland, in legal town meeting assembled, deem it our duty respectfully to 
address your Honors on a subject in wliich our interests and liberties are deeply 
involved. For more than thirteen months past we iiave been subjected to the 
privations and distresses consequent upon the several embargo laws imposed 



128 PETITION TO GENERAL COURT, 1809. 

by Congress. Although those laws appear to have been introduced and forced 
througli the National Legislature in a manner totally without precedent, al- 
though great and serious doubts were entertained of their constitutionality 
and expediency, and although we were not informed of the reasons for imposing 
them, yet we relied for a time on the sincerity of our National rulers, aud 
submitted to great and unusual privations because they considered them for 
the general good ; we had some reason to hope that the restraints on our 
trade and commerce would cease at the rising of Congress, but in this we were 
deceived. We were still cherished with hope, and gave credit to the positive 
assurances of those whom we considered in some measure in the secrets of 
the administration, that all our suffering would soon be terminated. Finding 
that these assurances were also illusive and calculated rather to influence our 
election than to afford relief, and being wearied with suffering and delay, we 
addressed our humble petition to the President of these United States, respect- 
fully stating our grief, and praying that he would exercise the power vested in 
him by Congress, and suspend in whole or in part the several laws laying an 
embargo. 

To this humble petition an indirect answer was returned, inducing us how- 
ever to believe that the repeal of those laws would be one of the first acts of 
Congress at its then next session. But when we looked for good, evil came. 
Instead of finding a return of respect for our natural and chartered rights, we 
are doomed to bend to the strong arm of power. Our energies are paralyzed, 
our houses are liable to be searched at the caprice of subaltern Officers of the 
National Government without warrant issued or probable cause, or supported 
by oath or affirmation ; our property is liable to unreasonable seizures and 
transportation. The mere will and pleasure, the secret instruction of an 
individual are to have the force of law by which we must be bound without 
promulgation, and of which we are to take notice without any possible means 
of knowing their import. Exorbitant rewards and encouragements are given 
to informers, and a system of espionage is established disgraceful to a free 
government, and subversive of our liberties, and a stain on our Republican 
Institutions. Our sufferings are immense. The produce of our farms will 
scarcely sell for the expense of cultivation. We have but very little circulat- 
ing medium ; that little is mostly paper, and to the last degree vitiated. Our 
lumber is unsalable. We are unable to meet our specie contracts made in 
better times ; made in days when we had confidence that the government we 
had instituted would rather prove our shield and protection than a flaming 
sword to destroy us. All these hardships — nay, greater than these, we cheer- 
fully (as a town) endured in our struggle for liberty and independence, for we 
then saw the necessity and merit of them, and we gloried in the sacrifice. 



REPRESENTATIVES TO GENERAL COURT. 1-^ 

But now, when can come no possible advantage from these sufferings, but 
rather an abject submission to European caprice, when we cannot derive a 
shadow of utility in them, and no one can point out to us their necessity, our 
patience is exhausted, we can suffer no longer. In this extremity we look to 
your Honors as to the citadel and last refuge, our hope. We would humbly 
beg your Honors to address Congress in our belialf, in a language easily 
understood and not to be mistaken ; warning them respectfully of our habits, 
our manners, our customs, our pursuits, our rights and our liberties ; of our 
firm and inflexible attachment to them, and especially of that awful point 
beyond which obedience is no longer a virtue, and non-resistance becomes a 
treason ; and we humbly pray that your Honors would devise some constitu- 
tional means of lightening our grievous burdens, and for the effecting of an 
immediate raising of the embargo, and a repeal of all the several laws relative 
to the same, and as in duty bound we will ever pray. 

(Signed,) PELEG CHANDLER, JR. 

NATHANIEL C. ALLEN. 

DANIEL HOWARD. 

ZEBULON ROWE. 
New Gloucester, February 13, 1809. TIMOTHY LITTLE. 

Then Voted, That the same committee sign and forward the said petition to 
the Legislature of said Commonwealth ; 107 for and 57 against it. 

1812, August 27. Voted, That Nathaniel C. Allen, Maj. Jacob Haskell, 
Thomas Wharff, Jr., Joshua Abbey, Jabez Woodman, Israel Smith, Jacob 
Merrill, Jonathan True, Dexter Bearce and Eben'r Collins be a 
Committee of Safety and Correspondence. 

UEPRESEXTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS 
FROM NEW GLOUCESTER. 

1782, John Merrill. 1809 to 1811, incl., Jos. E. Foxcroft. 

1783.. Isaac Parsons, Esq. 1812 and 1813, Capt. David Nelson 

1784, Peleg Chandler. and Capt. Sam'l Fessenden. 

1785, Isaac Parsons, Esq. 1814, Capt. Sam'l Fessenden. 
1787 to 1795, incl., Wm. Widgery. 1815, Capt. David Nelson. 
1797, Wm. Widgery. 1816, No choice. 

1799 to 1801, incl., Nath'l C Allen. 1818, Jabez Woodman. 
1803 to 1805, incl., Jos. E. Foxuroft. 1819 and 1820, Isaac Gross. 
1806 to 1808, incl., Jos. E. Foxcroft 
and Isaac Parsons, Esq. 



130 



REP S — SENATORS — POLLS AND ESTATES. 



REPRESENTATIVES TO THE LEGISLATURE OF MAINE F]^OM NEW 

GLOUCESTER. 



1821, Isaac Gross. 

1822, William Bradbury. 

1823, Isaac Gross. 

1824, Simeon Parsons. 

1826, John Webber. 

1827, Benjamin H. Mace. 

1828, Simeon Parsons. 

1829, Obadiah Whitman. 

1830, Ephraira Stinchfleld. 

1831, Obadiah Whitman. 

1832, Aaron Eveleth. 
1S33, Otis C. Gross. 

1834, Samuel Foxcroft. 

1835, Charles Cobb. 

1836 and 1837, Moses Woodman. 
1838 and 1839, Osgood Bradbury. 
1840 and 1841, David Allen. 



1842 and 1843, Joseph Raynes. 
1845, Peter Haskell, Jr. 
1847, Charles Megquier. 
1849, Thomas Johnson. 
1851 and 1852, Jonathan True. 
1853, Solomon H. Campbell. 
1855, Hiram P. Osgood. 
1857, Sewall Gross. 
1859, George Blake. 
1861, John P. Stevens. 
1863, Miltimore Watts. 
1865, Otis C. Nelson. 

1867, David W. Merrill, 

1868, George T. Merrill. 

1869, Andrew C. Chandler. 
1872, Freeman Jordan. 
1874, Isaac H. Keith. 



SENATORS IN THE LEGISLATURE OF MAINE FROM NEW 
GLOUCESTER. 



1821, Joseph E. Foxcroft 
1828, Benjamin H. Mace. 
1840, Otis C. Gross. 



1849, Charles Megquier. 
1861, '62, Sewall N. Gross. 



LIST OF POLLS AND ESTATES OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 



POLLS. 



1821, 
1831, 
1841, 
1845, 
1851, 
1860, 
1870, 



366 
322 
425 
309 
356 
404 
407 



VALUATION. 

$147,390.10 
162,000.00 
331,674.00 
287,777.00 
395,501.00 
665,946.00 
848,905.00 



In 1837 the population of New Gloucester was 1,861, composed 
of 186 children under 4 years of age, of 736 between 4 and 21 



JOHN" MEGQUTER. 131 

years, inclusive, and of 939 adults. A census was then taken for 
the purpose of distributing the surplus revenue, and each person 
received two dollars therefrom. In all $3,722.00 was distributed 
in town. The population of New Gloucester in 1870 was 1,496. 
The town has no debt. In the year 1874 it raised to pay the State 
tax, $4,248.60 ; County tax, $1,072.71 ; for the support of schools, 
$1,350.00; for High School, $400.00; for contingent fund, 
$1,200.00 ; and for the repair of roads, $4,000.00, to be paid in 
labor. 



ITEMS OF INTEREST. 

The following inscription is to be found upon a tombstone in 
the old churchyard. 

" Sacred to tlie memory of 

John Megquier. 

Died December 27, 1825, aged 92. 

He was one of the proprietors and first settlers of New Gloucester, and was 
one of those who felled the trees on the spot where his remains are now 
deposited. 

A patriotic citizen and an honest man." 

In the summer of 1748, at the age of fifteen years, he came 
with others, from North Yarmouth, each with an ox team, to cut 
the grass upon the Great Meadow. At the time the party 
arrived the water was so high as to prevent work upon the 
meadow, and young Megquier was selected to remain in a camp 
alone and tend the oxen while the others returned to their homes, 
to come back again when the water had settled away from the 
meadow. 

For seven days he remained in charge of the oxen, with his 
rifle in his hands all the time, ready for instant use, as the Indians 
were lurking in the vicinity, watching an opportunity to catch 
him imawares. 

This incident pictures the character of the man in after life — 



132 JOHN L. MEGQUIER AND BENJ. HAMMOND. 

a man of great courage and determination, a trait bequeatlied 
to his descendants. 

John L. Megquier (son of William and grandson of John), 
was born in New Gloucester Sept. 9, 1794, graduated at Bow- 
doin College Sept. 1, 1819, studied law with Simon Greenleaf, 
and after being admitted to the Cumberland Bar at the Novem- 
ber Term of Supreme Judicial Court, 1825, became his law 
parsner. For several years he was a member of the State 
Senate, and at the time of his death in 1840 (aged 46) he re- 
sided in Portland, and was the Register of Probate for Cumber- 
land County. 

Benjamin Hammond was the thirteenth settler. He came to 
the Block House in New Gloucester with his wife Sarah, and 
there temj^orarily remained until a log house was built near the 
top of " Harris Hill," where he made a permanent home and 
reared seven children. 

During the French and Indian War, he, with two others, 
Matthews and Stinchfield, Avere sent by the authorities of 
Massachusetts as spies to Canada. They were taken by the enemy 
and thrown into prison, but a good Scotchman and his wife, by 
the name of Fobes, living in Canada, contrived and aided their 
escape, and all three returned through the wilderness safely to 
their homes, a distance of two hundred miles. 

During the Revolutionary War Hammond was commissioned 
and served as a Captain in the Continental Army, but died from 
sickness at Ticonderoga in the prime of life, leaving a widow 
and family of three sons and four daughters, the oldest being 
fourteen years of age ; four of these were among the first settlers 
of Paris and Oxford. The widow died in her old home at the 
ripe age of ninety years and a half. 



AGED PEOPLE. 133 

A LIST OF CITIZENS OF NEW GLOUCESTER WHO HAVE LIVED TO 

THE AGE OF SEVENTY YEARS AND UPWARDS, WITH 

THE DATE OF DEATH AND AGE OF EACH. 

1807, March 2, Rev. Samuel Foxcroft, died, , aged 72. 

1815, April 4, Abraham Sawyer, " " 78. 

Mary, his widow, " 23d May, 1815, " 80. 

1822, Sept. 1, John Burns, " " 70. 

1824, April 10, Capt. William Harris, " " 92. 
Oct. 9, John Tufts, " " 74. 
Nov. 23, Capt. Nathaniel Eveleth, " " 88. 

" 26, Jonathan Somes, " " 71. 

1825, April 7, Jonathan Bennett, " " 79. 
Oct. 9, Col. Isaac Parsons, " " 85. 
Dec. 27, John Megquier , " " 92, 

Rachael, his widow, " 5th Feb. 1837, " 72. 

1826, Aug. 19, William Bradbury, " " 75. 

Hannah, his wife, " 19th May, 1820, " 70. 

1827, June 3, Capt. Jabez Cushman, " " 71. 

Ursula, his widow, " 23a April, 1810, " 78. 

June 18, Mary Burns, " " 72. 

Sept. 28, Enoch Fogg, " " 82. 

1828, June 15, James Stinchfield, " " 83. 
Oct. 4, John Haskell, " " 84. 

Hannah, his widow, " 8th Feb. 1834, " 85. 

1830, July 23, Edmund Merrill, " " 80. 

1831, Nov., Deacon Sylvanus Cobb, " " 84. 

Mary L., his widow, died 25th Jan., 1853, " 93. 

1832, Feb. 12, Capt. Moses Bennett, " " 79. 

1833, Aug. 6, Sarah, wife of Andrew Campbell, died, " 84. 
Dec. 7, Eliphalet Haskell, " " 80. 

Mary his widow, died 23d Sept., 1829, " 84. 

1834, April 19, Nathaniel Ingersoll, died, " 80. 
Oct. 27, Peter Brackett, " " 78. 

Sarah, his widow, died 12th Feb., 1839, " 73. 

1835, Jan. 22, Thomas Wharff, died, " 87. 
July 20, Sarah, his widow, " " 88. 

1836, April, Deacon David Nelson, " " 71. 

1837, March 1, Samuel Nevins, " " 78. 

Susanna, his widow, died 23d Sept., 1838, " 77. 



134 AGED PEOPLE. 

1837, Aug. 4, Dr. William Bridgham, died, 

Lydia, his widow, died 18th Oct., 1846, 
Aug. 18, Ephraim Stinchfield, " 

Sarali, his widow, died 13th June, 1841, 
Oct. 18, William White, " 
Nov. 8, Joseph Pearce, " 

1838, March 28, Joseph Brown, " 
June 8, Deacon John Hayes, " 

Mary, his wife, died 27th May, 1836, 

1839, Nov., Moses Sawyer, " 

1840, Oct. 9, William Megquier, died, 

Thankful, his widow, died 9th Nov., 1853, 

1841, Feb. 21, Mary, wife of Jos. Johnson, died, 

" 22, Jemima Parsons, " 

Polly Verrill, " 

William Pickett, " 

April 10, Joseph Dunbar, " 

May 28, Samuel Sawyer, " 

June 2, Azubah Puller, " 
July 13, John Preble, 
Oct. 20, Lucy Yetton, 

1842, Jan. 5, Salome, wife of Pelatiah Lyon, died, 
Feb. 3, Lucy Penny, 

" 23, Martha Pierce, 
Oct. 5, John Morgan, 

1843, April 26, Ezra Chapman, 

" 27, Joseph Manning, 
May 2, Zebulon Rowe, 
Oct. 2, Joseph Eveleth, 

" 3, Isaac Eveleth, 

" 6, William Stinchfield, 

" 26, Sarah Briggs, 
Dec. 17, Sarah Stinchfield, 

" 31, Solomon Atwood, 

Hannah, his wife, died Slst March, 1886, 

1844, Jan. 21, Simon Crockett, " 
July 4, Diana Ryan, " 
Sept. 13, Sarah Ingersoll, " 
Oct. 16, Hannah Woodman, died, 

1845, March 15, Sally, widow of Jacob Haskell, died, 



aged 81. 


" 77. 


'• 78. 


" 75 


" 85. 


" 92. 


" 79 


« 79. 


" 77 


" 70 


" 77 


" 80 


" 70 


" 94 


" 70 


" 80 


" 75 


" 74. 


" 77 


" 70 


" 75 


" 70 


" 83. 


" 87 


" 77 


" 78 


" 76 


" 94 


" 75. 


" 83. 


" 73 


" 74 


" 88. 


" 93 


" 81. 


" 76. 


" 76. 


" 80. 


" 78. 


" 84. 



AGED PEOPLE. 



135 



1845, August 31, Nathaniel Thomas, died, 
184G, Jan. 11, Prince Hatch, 

" 29, Juditli, widow of Nathan Haskell, " 

March 6, Mary Tyler, " 

May 26, Jonathan Bennett, " 

July 3, Mary, wife of Capt. Plummer, " 

" 11, Sarah Merrill, " 

1847, Jan. 18, Peleg Chandjer, Esq., " 
March 2, Elizabeth Thurlow, " 

" 6, Ebenezer Collins, " 

June 16, Bethulah Cotton, " 

" 27, Major Berry, " 

Sept. 25, Olive Briggs, " 

Dec. 20, Richard Blake, " 

" Joshua Gower, " 

1848, Jan. 8, John M. Russell, " 
Aug. Abigal, wife of Jabez Haskell, " 

" James M. Russell, " 

" 23, Florence ToUe, " 

Oct. 24, Solomon Atwood, " 

" 25, Stephen Dutton, " 

1849, Feb. 10, Nathaniel Eveleth, '• 

" 22, Nathaniel Waite, 
April, 27, William Hatch, 
July 14, Peter Haskell, Sr., died, 

Salome, his widow, died 25th March, 1858, 
Nov. 20, Margaret G. Lane, " 
Dec. 6, Ruth Bennett, 

1850, May 7, Abigail Fogg, " 

Dec. 16, Mary, widow of John L. Haskell, died, 

1851, Jan. 19, Nathaniel Allen, 

April 9, Abigail H. Brown, " 

July 4, Samuel Watts, " 
Sally, his widow, died 15th Feb., 1855, 
Aug. 9, Isaac Blake, 
Oct. 21, Jonas Eveleth, 

1852, Jan. 14, Prudence Rowe, 
July 21, Samuel Pierce, 
Aug. 16, Enoch Morse, 

" 30, Lydia, widow of Andrew Campbell, died. 



aged 86. 


" 


91. 


" 


94. 


•( 


78. 


« 


71. 


" 


73. 


" 


74. 


(c 


74. 


" 


82. 


« 


78. 


«< 


73. 


" 


75. 


l( 


74. 


(1 


78. 


«». 


70. 


" 


72. 


" 


70. 


C( 


72. 


" 


72. 


11 


72. 


« 


73. 


« 


85. 


" 


76. 


(( 


79. 


*• 


80. 


l( 


86. 


(( 


84. 


<( 


78. 


" 


83. 


C( 


85. 


" 


79. 


« 


82. 


" 


75. 


" 


75. 


<c 


85. 


« 


86. 


« 


72. 


II 


83. 


l< 


80. 


" 


76. 



136 AGED PEOPLE. 

1852, Sept. 1, Col. Joseph E. Foxcroft, died, aged 79. 

Abigail, his widow, died 23d March, 1855, " 82. 

Nov. 3, Daniel Fogg, " • " 75. 

Sally, his widow, died 28th Oct., 1858, " 85. 

" 24, Mr. Sanborn, " " 90. 

his widow, died 22d Nov., 1858, " 85. 

1853, March 6, Lydia, widow of Paul Stevens, died, " 85. 
July 10, Jonathan Rowe, died, • " 75. 

1854, Feb. 14, Robert H. Noyes, " " 71. 
March 9, Deborah Pote, " " 79. 

" 10, Moses Bennett, " " 73. 

" 11, Lydia Crowell, " " 77. 

June 23, Judith, wife of Caleb Haskell, died, " 76. 

July 20, Gowen Wilson, died, " 77. 

Aug. 11, Abigail, widow of John Harris, died, " 89. 

Oct. 7, "William Proctor, died, " 70. 

Nov. 24, William Stockman, died, " 70. 

1855, March 13, Abigail Merrill, " " 86. 
April 12, Isaac Blake, " " 81. 
May 11, Polly Gowen, " " 73. 
Aug. 20, John Bradbury, " " 70. 
Oct. 14, George Parsons, " " 89. 
Nov. 22, Samuel Tyler, " " 83. 

Phebe, his widow, died Oct. 1863, " 97. 

Dec. 9, Luke Leach, " " 89. 

1856, Feb. 20, Samuel Hilton, " " 82. 
April 17, Ebenezer Bennett, died, " 71. 

" 27, Phebe Merrill, died, " 76. 

May 2, Susan, widow of Edward Thompson, died, " 72. 

" 10, Lucy Holmes, " " 72. 

" 17, Jabez Haskell, " " 80. 

July 1, Joseph Briggs, " " 90. 

" 2, Ebenezer Hathaway, " " 84. 

Judith, his wife, died 4th April, 1855, " 82. 

Aug. 11, Abigail, wife of Benj. Witham, died, " 79. 

" 22, Judith Merchant, " " 93. 

" 27, Hannah, wife of Simeon Wells, " " 79. 

Oct. 14, Edmund Merrill, " " 81. 

Dec. 22, James Holmes, " " 85. 



AGED PEOPLE. 



137 



1857, Jan. 10, Betsey, wife of Jacob Merrill, died, aged 80. 

Feb. 8, James Winslow, " " 86. 

" 20, Mary, wife of Joseph Raynes, " " 84. 

Marcii 9, Pliebe Merrill, " " 97. 

" 18, Mary, widow of Ezekiel Martin, " " 89. 

" 27, James Eveletb, " " 74. 

June Polly Langfoot, " " 90. 

" 17, Louis Carle, " " 84. 

July 25, Capt. Moses Woodman, " " 78. 

Charlotte, his widow, died 7tb Aug., 1863, " 73. 

Oct. 14, Jonathan Haskell, " " 91. 

" 26, Eleanor Stinchfield, " " 84. 

Polly Merrill, " " 80. 

1858, March 23, Lydia Verrill, died " 76. 
July 27, Abraham Strout, " " 84. 
Aug. 11, Benjamin Coombs, died, " 72. 

Shuah, his widow, died 26th Sept., 1873. " 82. 

Oct. 1, Daniel Fogg, died, " 73. 

Priscilla, his widow, died 5th Oct., 186G, " 76. 

1859, Feb. 17, Isaac Barry, died, " 70. 
March 19, Damaris, wife of Jabez Woodman, died, " 75. 
Sept. 5, Shubal Marsh, died, " 93. 

Elizabeth, his wife, died 14th Nov., 1857, " 86. 

Oct. 16, William Bradbury, Esq., died, " 79. 

Nov. 25, Hannah, wife of Jonathan Bennett, died, " 73. 

" 26, Amos Bailey, died, " 71. 

1860, Jan. 30, John Lunt, " " "2. 

Arethusa, his widow, died 12th Jan., 1873. 

Feb. 7, Lorena Nevens, died, " 70. 

March 13, Mary, widow of James Winslow, died, " 85. 

May 18, Asa W. Gore, died, " 81. 

Sept. 25, Abigail, widow of Jonas Eveletli, died, " 90. 

Dec. 22, Benjamin Whiting, died, " 78. 

" 24, Mary Hannuond, " " ^0- 

ISGl, Jan. 22, Susan Blake, " " ^3. 

" 27, Nathaniel Haskell. " " 81. 

June 27, Ann Sawyer, " " ''^• 

Nov. 28, Richard Tobie, died, " 93. 

Dec. 3, Isaac F. Hatch, " " "2. 

10, Moses Bennett, " " 83. 

10 



138 AGED PEOPLE. 

1862, Jan. 8, Obadiah AVhitinan, died, aged 79. 

Susanna P., liis wife, died 7th Nov., 1859, " 74. 

Feb. 20, Susan, widow of William Rowe, died, " 80. 

April 18, Joel Nevins, died, " 76. 

May 10, Lucy Downing, died, " 77. 

" 25, Jonathan True, " " 76. 

Oct. 23, Samuel Witham, " " 77. 

Dec, Dorcas, wife of Cyrus Tripp, died , " 93. 

1863, Feb. 13, Isaac Spiller, died, " 72. 
April 17, Mary Morgan, died, " 71. 
July 25, William Stinchfleld, died, " 82. 
Oct. 12, Martha, wife of Moses True, died, " 75. 
Dec. 19, Major Woodbury Merrill, " " 75. 

" 20, Daniel Collins, " " 78. 

1864, Feb. 15, Thomas WharflP, " " 93. 

Olive, his widow, died 9tli Jan., 1866, " 71. 

" 18, Perkins Eveleth, " " 79. 

March 5, Aaron Eveleth, " " 74. 

" 29, Joel Merrill, " " 75. 

July 4, Joshua xMerrill, " " 79. 

" 14, Hannah Pickett, " " 84. 

1864, July 7, Capt. William Haskell, died, " 84. 

Jane, his wife, died 7tli July, 1858, " 87. 

August 5, Josiah Grover, died, " 71. 

" 30, Polly Verrill, died, " 85. 

October 23, Nathaniel Wharflf, died, " 75. 

December 2, Sally Cobb, died, " 84. 

. " 13, John Lunt, died, " 82. 

1865, March 3, Nabby, wife of Isaac Atwood, died, " 72. 

" 9, Clarissa Mclntire, died, " 72. 

" 16, Benjamin T. Woodbury, died, " 71. 

June 22, Martha Witham, died, " 70. 

August 25, Bethulia Merrill, died, " 75. 

December 27, Zebulon Rowe, died, " 78. 

1866, July 5, Martha Foxcroft, •' " 91. 
October 18, Patience W., widow of Gen'l Jolm Farr, died, " 71. 

" 22, James Bickford, died, " 72. 

November 20, Isaac Lowe, " " 71. 

December 15, Ebenezer Rowe, " "91. 

1867, February 26. Samuel Pierce, " " 73. 



AGED PEOPLE. 130 

1867, June 10, Betsey, widow of Tlionias Ilawes, died, aged 89. 
July 25, Polly, wife of Samuel Witliam, " " 85. 

1868, August, Amos Haskell, died, " 80. 

Sarali, his wife, died 22d March, 1859, " 70. 

1872, February 5, Betsey Poole, died, "82. 

1874, February 24, Polly Weymouth, died, " 99. 

" James Collins, " " 71. 

1875, January 14, Geo. Washington Chandler, died, " 81. 

" 29, Abigail Stevens, died, " 78. 

February 27, Dr. John P. Stevens, died, " 71. 



INDEX. 



Address, 18 

Aged People, 133 . 

Alien, Jeremiah 72 

" N. C 39 

" America," 52 

Arnold, Bildad 115 

Arrangements, 9 

Eabson, J.J 58 

Band, 10 

Baptists, 34, 35, 36 

Bearce, Dexter 64, 73 

Bell Tavern, 10, 40, 74 

Blessing, 53 

Block House, 23 

Bounties to Settlers,. . .20, 21, 23, 24 

Bounties to Soldiers 30, 42 

Bradbury, William 64, 66 

Osgood 89 

Canal proposed, 39 

Centennial Day, 12 

" Hymn, 17 

Cliandler, Peleg. . . .26, 27, 35, 40, 51,- 
66, 74 

Peleg, Jr 64,75,129 

Peleg W 65 

T. P 88 

S. H., Sr 64, 73 

S. H., Jr 9 

A. C 9 

S. C 05 

Chesley, Nicholas 39 

Choir,.. . 10, 17 

Church JMembers, 26 

Committee, Centennial 9 

" Prudential 25 

" for Ordination 26 

" for incorporation 27 

" of Safety, 30, 123-129 

Inspection, ...29, 30, 123, 125 

" to regulate prices, 32, 125, 

126 

Constitution, Federal, adopted,. . .39 



Contributors of money, 10 

Corliss, B. H 99 

Courts 40 

" judges of, 41 

Cross, Rev. W. R 15 

" Jos 9,10,14 

Currencj' and Coin, 31 

Delegates to Fal. Convention, 29 

Dingley, Nelson, Jr 54 

Dinner, 54 

Distinguished citizens, 51, 64 

Distress, time of, 31, 32 

Doxology, 116 

Embargo, 41, 127 

Eveleth, Capt. Isaac 21 

" " Nathaniel, 42 

" William, 10 

Falmouth Convention, 29, 117 

Fast observed, 35 

First Clearing, 21 

Fessenden, Sam'l 51, 64, 66 

Wm. Pitt 64,66,69 

S. C... 82 

Foxcroft, Rev. Sam'l 25, 33, 36, 63, 90 

Col. Jos. E 64,66,73 

Graffiim, Peter 39 

Grant, original, 19 

Graveyard, 39, 40 

Greenleaf, Simon 51, 66 

(irist-mill, 24 

Gross, Deacon, 73 

" Sewall N 51 

Hammond, Benj 132 

Harris, Capt. Wm. 25, 26, 29, 30, 123 

Harris Hill, 21 

Haskell, Peter, Sr 73 

" Peter,Jr 24 

" C. P 03 

" T. H 18 

" Amos 72 

" Alfred 112 

" John 114 



INDEX. 



Inns, l'.),64 

Intolerjition 34 

Invitatii)ns 10 

Invited Guests, 13 

Iron Horse 49, 64 

Jolinson, Tlionias 'J'J 

Fveitli, Freedom 73 

Lane, lOhene/.er 84 

Liquors, Spirituous 44 

Little, Dr. Tiinotliy 51, 63, 66, 74 

Lorinji, Mezaleel 115 

Lots drawn, 20, 24, 26 

Marsli, Deacon 89 

Marsluvl of the day 10 

Martin, A. P 109 

Mason, Jonas 21 

Masts, cargo of 48 

Meadows 19, 26 

Megquier, Jolni 131 

Megquier, John L 132 

Militia 29,43, 44 

Millett.John 20 

Morgan, Rev. J. F 93 

Mosely, Rev. Klisha 38, 63, 66, 72, 90 

Nevins, A. li 9, 10 

New Gloucester, named 20 

" Incori)orated 27 

" First Town Meeting, 28, 96 

Indicted 38,42 

" Shire Town 40 

" Si)ns and Citizens, 51 

Old Church, 26,45 

Ordination of Rev. Mr. Foxcroft,. .26 

(^.xford Countv, 40 

Parsons, Col. Isaac. . . .24, 66, 70, 114 

" Jacob 24 

" Isaac, Jr 73 

" Esther 76 

Pastors 38, 63 

Perkins, l{ev. IL M 53 

Population, 130 

Polls and Estates , 1 30 

Poor 45 

Pound 28, 41 

Prayer, 15 

President 10 

Proctor, James 23 

Progress, 4'J, 84 

Proprietary, 25 

Quotas of men, 3 1 , 32 



Quotas of clothing, 31, 32 

" supplies, 31,32 

Roads 20, 24, 25, 39, 45 

Religious Societies 36 

Representatives, 130 

Revolutionary Soldiers, 31, 126 

Rideout, Nicliolas 17 

Roberts, Jolui 22 

Rowe, Judith 13, 60 

Saw Mill '24 

Sawyer, Otis 100 

Schedule of Prices, 124 

Schools, 25,28,47, 77 

Senators 130 

Shakers 47, 100 

Slavery 43 

Sons and Citizens, 53 

Stage Coach, 49, 61 

Stinchfield, John 39 

Stocks 41 

Taxes, 31, 34, 131 

Tent, 10, 13 

Temperance Cause, 45, 91 

Thomas, W. W 78 

W. W., Jr 55 

Tliompson, Rev. Zenas 36 

Toastmaster 10 

Toasts 54 

True, Jabez 84 

Ty thing-men 42, 94 

Universalists 35, 36 

War, French and Indian 22 

" of the Revolution 28,117 

" of 1812 41,127 

" of the Rebellion, 51 

Welcome, 14 

Weston, Nathan 51, 64 

Whipping Post, 41 

Whitman, Ezekiel 51, 64, 75 

Obadiah 66,73 

" Hernard 73 

Widgery, William 39, 78, 98 

Winslow, Sarah M 75 

Woodman, John 25, 34 

Jabi.-z.. , . ..66, 72 

.Moses 72 

G. W 82 

Jabez 11 96 

YealoM, Rev. F 51 



,f^ s^^ 
.# ^-^^^% 






^-^- 












.^ % 






0" 



."> 



3^ 



2, -P '^S-. 






Kt- V 



•^ * ') s o 

• %/ 



iV „ ^ » ^ '^ y 



L^' 



> ,#' 






^^ V^^ 









,x\'' ■':j 






.V c 






%^ v^^ 






0^ 



x^' 



<y>- 









■>. 



V, 



..■<c- 



■>f\ 



^^ %^^Hz::;5!*^ ." ov 



■c/>„ o^ 






0^- 






oo' 









•,o- 



.-^^^st.' 






^^. 



-j^^r ,v^^^^ 






* A^ 






.■* .-. 



V 















<. '0..-^ V\ 



'ci- v>/^^7^^ ^ 



-4 

0' 












'^^ v^^ 



Oo. 






V' 






^■^^ 



</>„ 



\X' 



■5 



'■^' .<f : 






y^- 



.V ^^' 






A ^ n N c ^ -Z-^ 



^' - ^^ ,^' 



^. 






.s^<i 



'bo' 






^*' 










, '^- 


■y ,j 


N ^* * 




'// -^ 




x*^ 




-'^ 




«-^' 






% 


.^' 



,0 o^ 









"^v. V^ 



.>• 






,V .r. 






5 // 



